The poem does not speak of individual troops but rather of “the six hundred” and then “all that was left of them.” Even Lord Raglan, who played such an important role in the battle, is only vaguely referred to in the line “someone had blundered.” Interestingly, Tennyson omitted this critical and somewhat subversive line in the 1855 version of this poem, but the writer John Ruskin later convinced him to restore it for the sake of the poem’s artistry. This poem is effective largely because of the way it conveys the movement and sound of the charge via a strong, repetitive falling meter: “Half a league, half a league / Half a league onward.” The plodding pace of the repetitions seems to subsume all individual impulsiveness in ponderous collective action. Often, Tennyson uses the same rhyme (and occasionally even the same final word) for several consecutive lines: “Flashed all their sabres bare / Flashed as they turned in air / Sab’ring the gunners there.” The poem also makes use of anaphora, in which the same word is repeated at the beginning of several consecutive lines: “Cannon to right of them / Cannon to left of them / Cannon in front of them.” Here the method creates a sense of harsh and intense attack at each line, our eyes meet the word “cannon,” just as the soldiers meet their flying shells at each turn. The rhyme scheme varies with each stanza. The use of “falling” rhythm, in which the stress is on the first beat of each metrical unit, and then “falls off” for the rest of the length of the meter, is appropriate in a poem describing the fall of the British brigade. Each line has two stressed syllables moreover, each stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables, making the rhythm dactylic. This poem comprises six stanzas varying in length from six to twelve lines. The world marvelled at the courage of the soldiers indeed, their glory is undying: the poem states these noble 600 men remain worthy of honour and tribute today. As the brigade rode “back from the mouth of hell,” soldiers and horses collapsed few remained to make the backward journey. Canons behind and on both sides of the soldiers now attacked them with shots and shells. ![]() Then they rode back from the offensive, but they had lost many men so they were “not the six hundred” any more. They rode into the artillery smoke and broke through the enemy line, destroying their Cossack and Russian opponents. The soldiers struck the enemy gunners with their bare swords and charged at the enemy army while the rest of the world looked on in wonder. Still, they rode courageously forward toward their own deaths: “Into the jaws of Death / Into the mouth of hell / Rode the six hundred.” The 600 soldiers were attacked violently by the shots of shells of canons in front and on both sides of them. ![]() Not a single soldier was discouraged or distressed by the command to charge forward, even though all the soldiers realized that their commander had made a terrible mistake: “Someone had blundered.” The role of the soldier is to obey and “not to make a reply…not to reason why,” so they followed orders and rode into the “valley of death.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |