Charge of the Light
Brigade
Lord Alfred Tennyson
Half a league, half a
league, half a league onward, all in the Valley of Death.
“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 soldier knew someone had
blunder’d: Theirs not to make reply, there’s not to reason why, theirs but to
do and die: Into the Valley of Death rode the six hundred.
Cannon to 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.
Flasha’d all their
sabres barem, flash’d as 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 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, 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 wondered. Honor the charge
they made, Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred.
Source:
SparkNotes. “The charge of the Light Brigade.” Tennyson’s Poetry. 2013. Accessed 4th May 2013. http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/tennyson/section9.rhtml
I was watching the movie Blind Side this evening. I had already
seen it several times and loved it. In the movie, the father, Shaun, spoke of
this poem being about Ole Miss and LSU playing on the football field. I looked
up this poem and read it for the first time in my life. How could I have missed
reading such a passionate poem? I had to look up the quick reference in spark
notes as to the history behind this epic classic.
This was a poem about a
disastrous historical military engagement that was in the 1st half
of the Crimean War between Turkey and Russia (1854-56). British forces led by
Lord Raglan 1854. He sent his forced of about 650 men and in the matter of a
few minutes over 100 men died. Britain lost. The poem is a moving tribute to the courage
and heroism in the face of devastating defeat. Now this military action is
considered as a military disaster.
Would this poem apply today? I
would like to think so. It makes me think on so many different levels about our
soldiers today that face their adversaries on foreign land. They are so far
from home in a desert type region fighting for obscure reasons that were made among
the leaders of the “free world.” Yet
they do their job. They lay their life on the line every minute of every day
while they are on foreign soil. The reasons in which our country went to war do
not exactly hold true any longer.
The difference between this poem
and now is the gentleman’s war. The British in the Crimean War would line up
and charge. Now the soldiers crouch and slowly attack to seek the kill without
being killed. There is a difference in bravery compared to the British in 1854
and the NATO Peace keeping force in 2013, which is primarily American Soldiers.
I am not saying that they are not brave, but there is difference in the
military perspectives on a national basis. Our soldiers are not raised with the
military nationalistic value that other countries instill in their youth. We
are more of a country based on emotion with an overabundance of personal
rights. I wonder about the future of our country, though. I often wonder if the
governmental decisions are being made for the honorable reasons and not for
some power play over economic money reasons of a few elite.
There is no reason to doubt that
our “Light Brigade” is just as fierce now as it was in 1854. I hope and pray
that our government is making the correct honorable reasons to justify our
losses of so many honorable men and women. I hope and pray that in 100 years
that our wars are not voted as government/military disasters to be remembered.
God bless our military.
