The charge of the light brigade

The Charge of the Light Brigade

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.


'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldiers 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.

Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the 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.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turned 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.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to 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.

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!


—Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1854


It was a poem written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in 1854. Lord Tennyson wrote the poem right after he read the account of Battle of Balaclava between English cavalry and Russian troops in Cremean War. The battle was fruitless for English side and the loss was quite severe. The disaster was reported as a result of miscommunication, involving either a vague order from Lord Raglan(English commander), or a misinterpretation from the light brigade, or even both. The poem, however, stated that:

Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldiers knew
  Some one had blunder'd...


I read a few introductions of the poem, they seemed to agree that the soldiers knew someone was blundered. But I was confused with the phrase "Not tho'" the first few times when I was reading the poem. I thought soldiers did not know. Ah, I was blundered... :p Also the line "valley of death" was mentioned by Wiki's writing that reminiscent of Psalm 23:

Psalm 23 (King James Version)

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green [1] pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest [2] my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. [3]

(http://www.christnotes.org/bible.php?q=Psalm+23)

This Crimean war was complicated. It involved Christian religious interest(Holy land issue), European politics(Napolean III's ambition, Russia & England and policeman of Europe, Weakened Ottoman state), trade interest(Dardanelle Strait), and so forth. This war was famous not for the war itself, but rather, for Florence Nightingale(南丁格爾). She pioneered in introducing modern nursing into English military and was dubbed "The lady with the lamp" for her habit of making rounds taking care wounded soldiers at night.

The war also had other significances, first use of the railway in war, the use of telegraph for war correspondence. Famous man like Leo Tolstoy was even called the first war correspondence for his "The Sevastopol Sketches", detailing the Russian soldiers and citizens of Sevastopol during the siege of Sevastopol. The famous "The thin red line" was also dubbed by English journalist, which meant soldiers holing a line to repulse the attack.

The poem wrote by Lord Tennyson was adored by the English people instantly. But there were another infamous poem by Rudyard Kipling. It told a story about the last of the light brigade soldiers after 40 years. While everyone could chanted the light brigade poem by Lord Tennyson, very few actually remembered the one by Rudyard Kipling. Here it is:

The last of the Light Brigade:

The Last of the Light Brigade

~Rudyard Kipling

There were thirty million English who talked of England's might,
There were twenty broken troopers who lacked a bed for the night.
They had neither food nor money, they had neither service nor trade;
They were only shiftless soldiers, the last of the Light Brigade.

They felt that life was fleeting; they knew not that art was long,
That though they were dying of famine, they lived in deathless song.
They asked for a little money to keep the wolf from the door;
And the thirty million English sent twenty pounds and four!

They laid their heads together that were scarred and lined and grey;
Keen were the Russian sabres, but want was keener than they;
And an old Troop-Sergeant muttered, "Let us go to the man who writes
The things on Balaclava the kiddies at school recites."

They went without bands or colours, a regiment ten-file strong,
To look for the Master-singer who had crowned them all in his song;
And, waiting his servant's order, by the garden gate they stayed,
A desolate little cluster, the last of the Light Brigade.

They strove to stand to attention, to straighten the toil-bowed back;
They drilled on an empty stomach, the loose-knit files fell slack;
With stooping of weary shoulders, in garments tattered and frayed,
They shambled into his presence, the last of the Light Brigade.

The old Troop-Sergeant was spokesman, and "Beggin' your pardon," he said,
"You wrote o' the Light Brigade, sir. Here's all that isn't dead.
An' it's all come true what you wrote, sir, regardin' the mouth of hell;
For we're all of us nigh to the workhouse, an' we thought we'd call an' tell.

"No, thank you, we don't want food, sir; but couldn't you take an' write
A sort of 'to be continued' and 'see next page' o' the fight?
We think that someone has blundered, an' couldn't you tell 'em how?
You wrote we were heroes once, sir. Please, write we are starving now."

The poor little army departed, limping and lean and forlorn.
And the heart of the Master-singer grew hot with "the scorn of scorn."
And he wrote for them wonderful verses that swept the land like flame,
Till the fatted souls of the English were scourged with the thing called Shame.

They sent a cheque to the felon that sprang from an Irish bog;
They healed the spavined cab-horse; they housed the homeless dog;
And they sent (you may call me a liar), when felon and beast were paid,
A cheque, for enough to live on, to the last of the Light Brigade.*

O thirty million English that babble of England's might,
Behold there are twenty heroes who lack their food to-night;
Our children's children are lisping to "honour the charge they made - "
And we leave to the streets and the workhouse the charge of the Light Brigade!

*this verse was present in the first collection but was removed from the later editions.

(Source: Mostly from Wikipedia: The charge of the light brigade, battle of balaclava, cimean war, Florence Nightingale, The Last of the Light Brigade, and other poetry sites which I forgot to record.)