Alfred,Lord Tennyson : The Charge of the Light Brigade

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Alfred,Lord Tennyson : The Charge of the Light Brigade

		1
Half a league, half a league¹,
	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.

		2
"Forward the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
	Some one had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
	Rode the six hundred.

		3
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
	V olley'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.

		4
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd at 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 robe back, but not'
	Not the six hundred.

		5
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
	Volleyed 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 left of them,
	Left of six hundred.

		6
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 (1809-1892)	1854

FOOTNOTES

¹ the subject of the poem is the charge of the Light Brigade of British cavalry against the Russian army in the Battle of Balaklava during the Crimean War

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