In Honor of March 4th

The Charge of the Light Brigade

BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

I

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.

II

“Forward, the Light Brigade!”

Was there a man dismayed?

Not though the soldier knew

   Someone had blundered.

   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.

III

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon in front of them

   Volleyed and thundered;

Stormed at with shot and shell,

Boldly they rode and well,

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of hell

   Rode the six hundred.

IV

Flashed all their sabres bare,

Flashed as they turned in air

Sabring the gunners there,

Charging an army, while

   All the world wondered.

Plunged in the battery-smoke

Right through the line they broke;

Cossack and Russian

Reeled from the sabre stroke

   Shattered and sundered.

Then they rode back, but not

   Not the six hundred.

V

Cannon to right of them,

Cannon to left of them,

Cannon behind them

   Volleyed and thundered;

Stormed at with shot and shell,

While horse and hero fell.

They that had fought so well

Came through the jaws of Death,

Back from the mouth of hell,

All that was left of them,

   Left of six hundred.

VI

When can their glory fade?

O the wild charge they made!

   All the world wondered.

Honour the charge they made!

Honour the Light Brigade,

   Noble six hundred!

 

From the Poetry Foundation. 

 

 

Comments

[Mary Lou]

We had to memorize this in school at some point. Thanks for the memories, and I hope you are surviving g tax season.

[Big Alice]

I feel kind of ignorant; I had no idea this was the source of :
"Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die"

Thank you!

[Angie]

My father quoted sections of this poem throughout my childhood. I wonder if there is any correlation of the two. :D

Only one more month to go!

[Judy]

and once again crimea has made its way into the news. russia lost it in the 1850s; we'll see what happens now. some vote--95 percent in favor of joining russia--at least a new 600 hasn't been lost. sil

[mrspao]

Love it!

[Bookfool, aka Nancy]

Hey! You're back! Nice to see you post, even if it's only on rare occasions, Carrie.