The Charge of the Light Brigade (Edexcel GCSE English Literature)

Your Edexcel GCSE English Literature Poetry Anthology contains 15 poems, and in your exam you will be given one poem – printed in full – and asked to choose one other poem from the anthology to compare the printed poem to by theme. As this is a “closed book” exam, you will not have access to the second poem, so you will need to know it from memory. Fifteen poems is a lot to revise. However, if you understand these four essential things about each poem, you will be able to produce a top-grade response:

• The meaning of the poem
• The ideas and messages the poet wanted to convey
• How the poet uses poetic methods to convey these ideas and messages
• How the ideas and themes in each poem compare and contrast with the ideas and themes of the other poems in the anthology

Below is a guide to Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', from the Conflict Anthology. It includes:

• Overview: a breakdown of the poem, including its possible meanings and interpretations
• Writer’s methods: an exploration of the poet’s techniques and methods
• Context: an exploration of the context of the poem, relevant to its themes
• What to compare it to: ideas about which poems to compare it to in the exam

The poem has been taken from Edexcel’s Poetry Anthology. 

To answer an essay question on any poem, you must understand what it is about. This section includes:

• The poem in a nutshell
• An explanation of the poem, section-by-section
• An outline of Tennyson’s intention and message in each of these sections

'The Charge of the Light Brigade' in a nutshell

'The Charge of the Light Brigade' was first published in 1855 and tells the story of a battle during the Crimean War (1853–1856), in which a British cavalry unit, the “Light Brigade”, was ordered to charge down a narrow valley, straight into the gunfire from a Russian artillery unit. Nearly half the brigade was killed, wounded or captured. The poet, Tennyson, read a newspaper report about the battle, and published the poem just six weeks later. In the poem, he celebrates the heroism and sacrifice of the soldiers, but also criticises those in power who gave the order that caused so many deaths. The poem deals most obviously with the theme of conflict in war, but it also explores the inner conflict of following orders, even when they lead to almost certain death.

'The Charge of the Light Brigade' breakdown

Lines 1–8

“Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

All in the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

‘Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns!’ he said: 

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.”

Explanation

• The speaker reveals the subject of the poem in this first stanza
• Six hundred soldiers on horses (the “Light Brigade”) rode for a mile and a half (“half a league”) into the valley of Death
• Their commander ordered them to charge forward towards the artillery

Tennyson’s intention

• Tennyson uses repetition of distance at the start of the poem to emphasise how far they have to go and how exposed and vulnerable the soldiers are
• The repetition also sets up the rhythm of the poem, which is like horses’ hooves galloping:
• This could suggest the relentless nature of the charge
• The number of men is repeated throughout the poem to commemorate and honour the soldiers of the Light Brigade
• Marching into the valley of Death is a biblical reference to Psalm 23: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;”:
• The poet here suggests that the men knew that they were potentially riding to their deaths
• But the biblical reference implies that the men may have taken comfort in their religious faith, and their belief that God was on their side

Lines 9–17

“‘Forward, the Light Brigade!’

Was there a man dismay’d?

Not tho’ the soldier knew

Some one had blunder’d:

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.”

Explanation

• The commander repeats the order to advance
• Was any soldier discouraged or afraid? No, even though they knew that someone had made a mistake and that this was a suicide mission
• It wasn’t up to them to question their orders; their job was to follow those orders, even if this resulted in their deaths
• So the six hundred men rode into the valley of Death (the battle)

Tennyson’s intention

• In this stanza, Tennyson reveals the thoughts of the soldiers and their awareness that someone had made a mistake (“blunder’d”) that could cost them their lives
• However, their sense of duty meant that they did not feel it was their place to question or challenge their orders
• The use of the rhetorical question, “Was there a man dismay’d?”, suggests the soldiers’ doubt about their orders
• Their unquestioning sense of duty reflects the power those in charge had over whether the regular soldiers lived or died

Lines 18–26

“Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

Volley’d and thunder’d;

Storm’d at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell

Rode the six hundred.”

Explanation

• The men were completely surrounded by cannons and loud blasts
• They were bombarded by gunshots and artillery shells
• Even so, they continued to ride bravely into the mouth of Death and Hell itself

Tennyson’s intention

• The speaker of the poem tells the tale as someone who was there and saw it all happen:
• This lends a level of authenticity to the account
• The repetition of “cannon” implies that the men knew they were surrounded by the enemy army, but still they rode on bravely 
• Tennyson is again commenting on the soldiers’ sense of duty, as well as their courage
• Death and Hell are personified as monsters that will devour the soldiers

Lines 27–38

“Flash’d all their sabres bare,

Flash’d as they turn’d in air

Sabring the gunners there,

Charging an army, while

All the world wonder’d:

Plunged in the battery smoke

Right thro’ the line they broke;

Cossack and Russian

Reel’d from the sabre-stroke

Shatter’d and sunder’d

Then they rode back, but not

Not the six hundred.”

Explanation

• The soldiers raised their swords (“sabres”), which flashed in the light, into the air
• They charged into the enemy’s army and stabbed the soldiers, who were manning the guns:
• The whole world watched in amazement and confusion
• The soldiers plunged into the smoke from the guns and broke through the enemy lines
• The Cossack and Russian soldiers were overcome by the sabre attack, shattered and broken
• The Light Brigade rode back, but not all of them made it

Tennyson’s intention

• In this stanza, Tennyson reveals that while the army charged towards death, the rest of the world wondered why they were ordered to do so:
• Ironically, the only people not wondering were the soldiers themselves
• “Cossack and Russian” is a reference to the enemy soldiers who were fighting against the British army in the Crimean War
• At the end of this stanza, the speaker reveals that some soldiers did make it out alive
• History tells us that only about half of the men returned home from that battle

Lines 39–49

“Cannon to the right of them,

Cannon to the left of them,

Cannon behind them

Volley’d and thunder’d;

Storm’d at with shot and shell,

While horse and hero fell,

They that had fought so well

Came thro’ the jaws of Death,

Back from the mouth of Hell,

All that was left of them,

Left of six hundred.”

Explanation

• Again, the speaker repeats the fact that the soldiers were surrounded by firing cannons
• Whilst many soldiers and horses died, they fought well and some of them survived
• That was all that was left of the six hundred who first set out

Tennyson’s intention

• The repetition of the image of the cannons emphasises the soldiers’ bravery and courage against all odds
• The speaker clearly finds it miraculous that any soldiers came back at all

Lines 50–55

“When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

All the world wonder’d.

Honour the charge they made!

Honour the Light Brigade,

Noble six hundred!”

Explanation

• The speaker asks if their bravery will ever be forgotten, as the whole world is amazed by it
• The speaker then urges the reader to respect these brave and noble soldiers and what they did

Tennyson’s intention

• In this stanza, the speaker calls upon readers to honour and respect the six hundred men who rode at the Battle of Balaclava
• The rhetorical question, “When can their glory fade?” suggests both the fallen and the survivors would be forever remembered and honoured:
• This rhetorical device also alludes to the poem being a piece of propaganda
• This is reinforced by the imperative verb “honour”, demanding that the public honour the soldiers

Although this section is organised into three separate sections – form, structure and language – it is important to take an integrated approach to AO2. That means you should only consider what the poet is presenting (their techniques, the overall form of the poem, and how it is structured) to help you understand why they have made those choices. Think about how Tennyson’s language, structure and form contribute to his themes, message and intentions. 

Focusing on the poet’s ideas, rather than individual poetic techniques, will gain you far more marks in the exam. In the following sections, all analysis is arranged by theme, including the intentions behind Tennyson’s choices of:

• Form
• Structure
• Language

Form

The poem is written in the form of a ballad: a traditional form of poetry that Tennyson uses to commemorate the story for future generations. His poem, therefore, acts to memorialise the people who were killed in the conflict, and their heroism and bravery.

Theme	Evidence	Poet’s intention
Conflict, war and heroism	There are six stanzas, with each one progressing the story of the attack	Each stanza could therefore be considered a memorial stone to 100 of the six hundred cavalrymen involved in the battle
	The first three stanzas tell of the charge, the fourth details the battle itself and the fifth describes the aftermath	The final stanza allows Tennyson to reflect and comment on the bravery of the soldiers
	The poem uses short, energetic lines	This gives the poem a sense of speed and urgency, much like the soldiers going into battle

Structure

Tennyson uses rhythm and rhyme to create the atmosphere of the poem and to emphasise the themes of war and patriotism.

Theme	Evidence	Poet’s intention
War and patriotism	The poet uses dactylic dimeter, which is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, to represent the rhythm of the horses’ hooves	The relentlessness of the rhythm implies that the soldiers had no choice but to obey their orders and continue galloping forward into battle: This sense of inevitability is reinforced by the use of rhyming couplets, although the chaos of the battle is also represented by the irregular overall rhyming scheme
	Tennyson also repeatedly employs repetition, such as in “Half a league” and “cannons”	The repetition of “cannons” emphasises the great number of them and makes them seem overwhelming
	The poet makes use of end-stopped lines, such as in “Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.”	This technique focuses on the feelings of the men, conveying their resolve and the bravery as they face death:  The lines are strong, confident and determined, just like the soldiers themselves
	Tennyson also uses anaphora, such as in the above lines	This reinforces the sense that the soldiers are all in it together, as well as their obedience

Language

Tennyson’s language reinforces the main themes of war, patriotism and heroism in the face of death.

Theme	Evidence	Poet’s intention
War and patriotism	The poet uses dactylic dimeter, which is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, to represent the rhythm of the horses’ hooves	The relentlessness of the rhythm implies that the soldiers had no choice but to obey their orders and continue galloping forward into battle: This sense of inevitability is reinforced by the use of rhyming couplets, although the chaos of the battle is also represented by the irregular overall rhyming scheme
	The poet uses the “valley of Death” as a metaphor for the battlefield	This demonstrates that both the poet and the soldiers knew that this was a suicide mission, and they were likely to die
	Death is personified as having “jaws” and Hell as having a “mouth”	This implies that the soldiers will be devoured by death, and that there is no escape
	Tennyson uses language associated with storms, such as “thundered”, “stormed” and “flashed”	This evokes the unpredictable and chaotic nature of war, and the terrible force and brutality it can contain
	There is also some ambiguity in the line, “all the world wonder’d”	This creates uncertainty about whether it denotes admiration or doubt
	The poet also employs repetition of the word “charge”	This could emphasise the bravery and heroism of the soldiers boldly charging into battle However, it could also imply a “charge” against the commanders who made the mistake by sending the soldiers to their deaths

Context is important, but knowledge of it should only be used to support your answer about Tennyson’s ideas, themes and perspective. Examiners don’t want to see random chunks of historical information about the Crimean War or the Battle of Balaclava, because this does not tell them anything about your understanding of the poem. The best way to understand the context of 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' is through the ideas and perspectives Tennyson explores in the poem. As this is one of the more straightforward poems in the anthology to analyse, this section has been bullet-pointed under the central theme of war and heroism:

War and heroism

• The poem is about an advance made by approximately 600 British soldiers on horseback in 1854 at the Battle of Balaclava, during the Crimean War
• Tennyson read a newspaper report about the battle and wrote the poem to celebrate the sacrifice the soldiers made for their country
• The brigade’s orders were to attack a heavily defended Russian position:
• As they charged into the narrow valley, the soldiers of the Light Brigade were fired at from all sides
• Although they were surrounded, some of the soldiers made it through to the Russian line, where they engaged in a violent battle with swords and hand-to-hand combat
• Tennyson indirectly criticises the orders given by Lord Raglan, the man in charge, as his order caused so many deaths:
• Tennyson was poet laureate at the time, so he could not be openly critical of British systems and institutions
• He was expected to glorify the war to the British public and to defend the decisions of the aristocracy
• Tennyson led a rather privileged life, leading some to question the extent of his knowledge about the reality of war
• The Crimean War was well documented by journalists, making it extremely unpopular with the British public:
• They saw the war as unnecessary and were aware of the mistakes made because events were reported so quickly
• The Battle of Balaclava provoked much debate about the war and its leadership
• It was also one of the first conflicts to use modern military techniques, like exploding artillery shells, resulting in far more deaths and large-scale destruction 
• Allusions to Christianity would have offered comfort to Victorian readers
• The poem suggests that heroism isn’t just about bravery, but also about duty:
• For instance, being willing to obey orders no matter the cost
• The theme of nationalism is present in the final stanza, as the poet instructs his readers, the general public, to “honour” the men of the Light Brigade for their actions

Your exam essay will be a comparison of the ideas and themes explored in two of your anthology poems. Therefore, it’s essential to revise poems together, in pairs, to understand how each poet presents ideas about conflict in relation to the other poets in the anthology. Given that 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' focuses mainly on war and patriotism, the following comparisons would be a good place to start:

• 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' and 'Exposure'
• 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' and 'The Destruction of Sennacherib'

For each pair of poems, you will find:

• The comparison in a nutshell
• Similarities between the ideas presented in each poem
• Differences between the ideas presented in each poem
• Evidence and analysis of these similarities and differences

'The Charge of the Light Brigade' and 'Exposure'

Comparison in a nutshell:

This comparison provides the opportunity to compare how different poets present the experience of war. Although each poem is presented differently, both emphasise the needlessness of war and focus on the experiences of soldiers, underlining their importance.

Similarities:

Topic sentence	Both poems expose the reality of war, the experience of the soldiers fighting it and the inevitability of death
Evidence and analysis	'The Charge of the Light Brigade'	'Exposure'
	Tennyson indirectly criticises military leaders’ decisions by stating that “Someone had blunder’d”	In 'Exposure', Owen implies the soldiers’ doubts about their situation by asking “What are we doing here?”
	Tennyson also puts the emphasis on the soldiers themselves, as he instructs the reader to “Honour the Light Brigade” rather than their commanders	This, plus other rhetorical questions, emphasises the soldiers’ feelings of  abandonment, and can be seen as indirect criticisms of those in charge
	Tennyson uses repetition to emphasise the vast number of lives lost in war and the harsh brutality of conflict	Similarly, Own repeats “But nothing happens” to suggest the futility of being forced to wait in freezing trenches for no reason
	Tennyson uses the semantic field of a storm to emphasise the violence and power of charging into conflict	Owen uses the personification of the “merciless iced east winds” that “knive us” to suggest that the wind is violently attacking the men
	In this poem, the men followed their orders without question, even though they knew it would probably lead to their deaths	Wilfred Owen ultimately returned to war, despite having lost hope in the cause he was meant to be fighting for
	Both poems use language that dramatises the brutality and hopelessness of war and criticises those whose decisions lead to suffering in conflicts

Differences:

Topic sentence	In 'Exposure', war is presented as ultimately futile, whereas in 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', war is presented, at least on the surface, as honourable and brave
Evidence and analysis	'The Charge of the Light Brigade'	'Exposure'
	As Tennyson was poet laureate at the time, he would not have been able to be outwardly critical of authority	Owen was a soldier on the front line at the time of writing, so could be more openly critical of a situation of which he had first-hand experience
	Therefore, the tone of the poem is patriotic and contains language that is recognisable as propaganda, such as “glory”, “honour” and “noble”	Therefore, this poem presents a much more negative presentation of the realities of war and conflict
	Tennyson’s poem features the noise and turmoil of battle: The men do not seem to have the opportunity to feel frightened; they are charging straight into action	Owen’s poem is characterised by silence and inaction: The men are “Worried by silence”, which makes them feel apprehensive and fearful
	The sounds in this poem are loud and explosive	This contrasts with waiting in the silence and cold in 'Exposure'
	Tennyson’s use of euphemism and gentler language is kinder to the reader, shielding them from the true horrors of war	Owen’s language is much more reflective of the soldier’s lived experiences and, therefore, is more brutal, using language like “merciless”, “twitching agonies” and “misery”
	Tennyson’s descriptions of the battle are intended to make the men seem more heroic, while Owen’s descriptive language emphasises the soldiers’ suffering

'The Charge of the Light Brigade' and 'The Destruction of Sennacherib'

Comparison in a nutshell:

This comparison gives you the opportunity to compare how two poems present the violence and destruction of war. Both poems focus on the collective experience of war, and each of them presents the outcome of the situation as inevitable. However, Byron’s 'The Destruction of Sennacherib' moves on to consider the aftermath of a conflict and its effects on those who are left behind. 

Topic sentence	Both poems depersonalise the individual soldiers and suggest that the outcome of the battle is inevitable
Evidence and analysis	'The Charge of the Light Brigade'	'The Destruction of Sennacherib'
	The soldiers in the Light Brigade are depersonalised by Tennyson: He refers to them repeatedly as “the six hundred”, which presents them as a collective symbol of heroism	Byron refers to the Assyrians in a similarly depersonalised way as a “cohort” and a “host”, suggesting the strength of the fighting force and the symbolic threat it poses to Jerusalem
	The Light Brigade rides “Into the valley of Death”, suggesting they know that they are riding towards certain death	The Assyrian army attacks “like the wolf on the fold” (a wolf attacking sheep), suggesting certain death for their opponents
	The repetition of “cannons” emphasises the size of the enemy forces and thus the overwhelming odds faced by the six hundred	Byron evokes the size of the Assyrian army by comparing their spears and banners to the “stars on the sea” and the “leaves of the forest”
	Loss of life is conveyed by the words “horse and hero fell”, referring to each individual as merely an aspect of a single entity – the hero	The Assyrians’ loss of life is referred to in a similarly collective manner, when “The host on the morrow lay wither’d and strown”
	The phrase “the jaws of Death” personifies death, making the outcome of the battle seem inevitable	Death is personified as “the Angel of Death”, making the destruction of the Assyrian army inevitable
	Tennyson uses euphemism to avoid describing the horrific details of the conflict and to create a sense of distance for his readers	Byron’s use of similes throughout the poem creates a distance between the action and his description of them, reinforcing a mythical tone
	Neither poem gives the soldiers any individuality, regardless of their fates, instead presenting them in a symbolic way. This makes the soldiers in both poems expendable, and they lack any autonomy in their actions

Differences:

Topic sentence	Although both poems feature death in conflicts, Tennyson sustains his tone of heroism, while Byron presents destruction and its aftermath
Evidence and analysis	'The Charge of the Light Brigade'	'The Destruction of Sennacherib'
	The Light Brigade are the heroes of this poem, which celebrates their bravery and heroism	The Assyrian army are the enemies in Byron’s poem, which relates their destruction through divine intervention
	The sounds of the poem are percussive and dramatic all the way through, using language like “thunder’d” and “storm’d”	There is a volta in the middle of the second stanza, leaving only a “deadly chill” in the rest of the poem, which focuses on the dead Assyrians
	Violent, visually descriptive language is used to describe the enemy soldiers, who “reel’d from the sabre-stroke / Shatter’d and sunder’d” (i.e. torn apart)	Byron depicts the enemy army’s death in far less graphic terms, as the Angel of Death “breathed in the face of the foe”.
		This also enhances the mythical tone of the poem, as it undermines any sense of realism
	The survivors of the charge are honoured by Tennyson, who refers to them as the “Noble six hundred”	Not one Assyrian soldier survives the Angel of Death’s attack, and Byron describes their “widows”, who “wail” in despair
	Any criticism of authority is subtle in this poem, due to Tennyson’s position as poet laureate	Byron indirectly criticises Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, whose decision to attack Jerusalem leads to the death of his entire army
	Their patriotic duty is to “do and die”, and they are celebrated in the poem for doing so	Byron evokes pity for the dead soldiers and horses, and his tone is triumphant, but not celebratory
	This celebration of their sacrifice is reinforced by the “glory”, “honour” and “noble” of the final stanza	Instead of celebration, Byron uses pathos to describe their destruction, with their “lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.”
	Tennyson features violent and dramatic language that emphasises the heroism of the Light Brigade, while Byron’s descriptions focus on the silent, dead Assyrians and evokes pity for them and those they leave behind