The Charge of the Light Brigade (poem)
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The Charge of the Light Brigade is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson about the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.
Tennyson's poem, published December 9, 1854 in The Examiner, praises the Brigade, "When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!", while mourning the appalling futility of the charge: "Not tho' the soldier knew, someone had blunder'd… Charging an army, while all the world wonder'd." Tennyson wrote the poem inside only a few minutes after reading an account of the battle in The Times, according to his grandson Sir Charles Tennyson. It immediately became hugely popular, even reaching the troops in the Crimea, where it was distributed in pamphlet form.
An audio recording of Tennyson reading The Charge of the Light Brigade, made in 1890 on a wax cylinder, is available online [1]
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[edit] Kipling's response
In 1881, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem in response, entitled The Last of the Light Brigade, which attempted to shame the British public by depicting the difficult conditions suffered by the survivors of the Light Brigade.
[edit] Influence on popular culture
- The song "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden is based on The Charge of the Light Brigade.
- The Charge of the Light Brigade was recited by Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer in the "Two Too Young" episode of Our Gang/The Little Rascals.
- An impromptu rendition was performed by the character Geoffrey on the TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, while he was in disguise as a street poet. Breaking into his regular British accent and devastating Will's ruse to deliver the lines "Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Volley'd & thunder'd!"
- In the episode "The Stormy Present" in the series The West Wing the character Toby Ziegler (played by Richard Schiff) says "Into the Valley of Death rode the 600."
- In the episode "Jobs For The Boys" in the series Yes Minister, a minor character remarks to James Hacker, 'Into the Valley of Death rode Mr Hacker'.
- The 60s rock band Pearls Before Swine, fronted by Tom Rapp, titled its second album "Balaklava" and it contained a song about the charge, preceded by an early sound recording of the recollections of the Light Brigade bugler, who survived.
- A popular mondegreen is "Haffely, Gaffely, Gaffely Gonward", instead of "Half a league, half a league, half a league onward".
- In the episode "Sacrifice of Angels" of the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the lines "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 & shell, Boldly they rode & well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred." were recited by the characters of Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir. This occurred as they were entering battle as part of a 600-strong fleet against an enemy double their size. There were even more similarities to the historical charge of the light brigade when small fighters were ordered to attack the enemy lines while the larger, stronger units held back.
- In the movie Saving Private Ryan, Corporal Upham quotes the poem by saying, "Theirs is not to reason why, theirs is but to do or die."
- Pop band The Divine Comedy recorded a song Charge on the album Casanova featuring lyrics from The Charge of the Light Brigade.
- The Godzilla comic book from Dark Horse features a band of time travelling pirates who at one point are told by their leader a distorted version of Lord Tennyson's poem, "Yours is not to wonder why, yours is but to follow my instructions to the letter and eat pie in the sky".
- The song Millionaire Waltz, by the band Queen, contains the line "Bring on the charge of the love brigade", which may be a parody on this poem.
[edit] See also
[edit] The full poem
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 & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
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 & shell,
Boldly they rode & 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 & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd & 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 & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot & shell,
While horse & 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!
