Meaning

Line STANZA 1 INTERPRETATION

no.
1 Half a league, half a
league,
2 Half a league onward,
3 All in the valley of Death
4 Rode the six hundred.
5 “Forward, the Light
Brigade!
6 Charge for the guns!” he
said.
7 Into the valley of Death
8 Rode the six hundred.
A league is an old way to measure
distance, and it was equal to
about 3 miles. So half a league is
roughly a mile and a half– the
brigade/battalion was
charging forward in the battlefield
The place where many soldiers
would die in the battle (very scary
& uncertain)
The exact number of soldiers was
600, riding horses
The captain commanded the
soldiers to move forward bravely
Note: they are called "Light" to
separate them from the "Heavy
Brigade," another kind of cavalry
unit at the time.Tennyson's poem
is based on real events. In 1854,
there was a Charge of the Light
Brigade during the Crimean War.
The soldiers were ordered to
attack
The brigade was ordered into the
valley, even though they knew that
they were going to die.
Emphasis on the small number of
soldiers

Line STANZA 2 INTERPRETATION

no.
1 “Forward, the Light Again, the captain commanded
the soldiers to move forward
Brigade!”
Was there any soldier who would lose
2 Was there a man
his courage, be terrified or sad?
dismayed?
3 Not though the soldier These men did not feel
knew discouraged at all.

4 Someone had blundered. The soldiers knew that someone

had made a mistake.

5 Theirs not to make reply, The soldiers were loyal and

obedient – they did not questioned
their commander
 6 Theirs not to reason why,
7 Theirs but to do and die.
8 Into the valley of Death
9 Rode the six hundred.
Line STANZA 3
no.
1 Cannon to right of them,
2 Cannon to left of them,
3 Cannon in front of them
4 Volleyed and thundered;
5 Stormed at with shot and
shell,
6 Boldly they rode and well,
7 Into the jaws of Death,
8 Into the mouth of Hell
9 Rode the six hundred.
Or to figure out the point of the
attack
All they could do was to ride and
fight and possibly die
Repetition of stanza 1 – to
emphasize courage/bravery,
loyalty, commitment, duty
INTERPRETATION
The soldiers were surrounded by
enemy cannon on their left, right
and front. Bad news for the Light
Brigade – they were actually
surrounded by enemies.
So the huge walls of cannon all
around them were firing and
making a sound like thunder
The soldiers in the Light Brigade
were being shot at with bullets and
big explosives fired from the
cannon - a violent, noisy sounded
like a storm.
They rode bravely, confidently and
with determination.
They were ready/willing to die of
honour
‘Hell’ – suffering and torture but
the soldiers were brave
600 brave/courageous soldiers –
men of honour