In Honor of March 4th
March 04, 2014
The Charge of the Light Brigade
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.
We had to memorize this in school at some point. Thanks for the memories, and I hope you are surviving g tax season.
Posted by: Mary Lou | March 08, 2014 at 06:08 AM
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!
Posted by: Big Alice | March 08, 2014 at 10:41 AM
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!
Posted by: Angie | March 16, 2014 at 10:44 AM
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
Posted by: Judy | March 18, 2014 at 08:18 AM
Love it!
Posted by: mrspao | March 28, 2014 at 12:49 PM
Hey! You're back! Nice to see you post, even if it's only on rare occasions, Carrie.
Posted by: Bookfool, aka Nancy | April 04, 2014 at 04:31 PM