Tonight’s poem gallops like horses. In 1854, in the Crimean War, a British cavalry brigade was sent by mistake to charge straight at a line of Russian cannons. Hundreds were killed or wounded in a few minutes.
Learn from Songs · Poetry · B1–B2
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Tennyson’s galloping poem about a famous military blunder, recorded in his own voice in 1890: inversion after place phrases (Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred), the past perfect (someone had blundered), past participles (stormed at with shot and shell), and heroism or futility, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
By mistake? Somebody gave the wrong order?
SOPHIA
Somebody blundered, as the poem says. Tennyson read about it in the newspaper and wrote the poem very quickly. And we can hear his own voice, recorded on a wax cylinder in 1890. It is one of the oldest recordings of a poet in the world.
PHILO
Brave men, and a terrible mistake.
Before you listen: the song
Balaclava, Crimea, 25 October 1854
In the Crimean War (1853–1856), Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire fought Russia. At the Battle of Balaclava, on 25 October 1854, an order from the commander, Lord Raglan, was misunderstood as it passed through other officers. The Light Brigade, about 670 lightly armed cavalrymen, charged down a long valley into the fire of Russian guns on three sides. They reached the guns, but about 110 men were killed and many more wounded or captured.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), the Poet Laureate, read the report in The Times and wrote the poem within days. It praises the soldiers’ courage, but its most famous lines also show that “someone had blundered”. In 1890 Tennyson recorded it on a wax cylinder for Thomas Edison’s company, to help raise money for old soldiers of the charge who were living in poverty.
In the poem, the six hundred ride into the valley of Death. Cannon thunder to the right, left and front; they reach the guns, and then ride back, but not all six hundred.
Courage deserves honour; those who waste it deserve questions.
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)
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 dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs 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 left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not,
Not the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell.
They that had fought so well
Came through 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.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
Words in the poem
league: an old measure of distance, about 5 km
brigade: a large group of soldiers
dismayed: shocked and discouraged
blundered: made a careless mistake
reason why: ask the reason
volleyed: fired many shots at once
shot and shell: bullets and exploding cannon balls
sabres: curved swords used by cavalry
battery: a group of cannons
Cossack: a Russian cavalry soldier
reeled: staggered backwards
sundered: split apart
fade: become weaker and disappear
Read and listen: the gallop
PHILO
Read the poem aloud, then listen to Tennyson. Can you hear the rhythm of the horses? Where do they ride? What happens to them?
SOPHIA
Listen for the knocking sounds in the recording: some think Tennyson tapped out the hoofbeats himself. Then answer Section A.
🐎 Listen to the song: “The Charge of the Light Brigade” (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1854), read by Tennyson in 1890.Hear Tennyson read it (1890) →
Inversion after place phrases
MARCOS
Into the valley of Death rode the six hundred. (= The six hundred rode into the valley.)
SOPHIA
When a sentence begins with a place or direction phrase, the verb can come before the subject: Down the hill ran the children. In the corner sat an old man. It is dramatic and literary, common in stories.
The past perfect: someone had blundered
DEMETRIA
Not though the soldier knew someone had blundered.
SOPHIA
had + past participle: the mistake happened before the charge. The soldiers knew, and rode anyway. blunder = a stupid, careless mistake.
Past participles as descriptions
PHILO
Stormed at with shot and shell… Shattered and sundered… Plunged in the battery-smoke.
SOPHIA
A past participle at the start of a phrase describes what happened to someone: Tired and hungry, they marched on. Surrounded by enemies, he fought. = They were tired and hungry; he was surrounded.
Theirs not to reason why: heroism or futility?
MARCOS
Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.
SOPHIA
= It was not their job to answer back or ask why; their job was to obey and die. Some readers hear pure praise of obedience; others hear bitter criticism of a system that wastes lives. The phrase “the charge of the Light Brigade” now means brave but pointless action. What do you hear?
Sophia’s comparison: Thermopylae and David’s lament
SOPHIA
At Thermopylae, three hundred Spartans held the pass against the whole Persian army, knowing they would die. Their epitaph says: Stranger, tell the Spartans that we lie here, obedient to their words.
PHILO
And when Saul and Jonathan fell on Mount Gilboa, David wept: How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! Tell it not in Gath. Honour the fallen, and mourn them, and never forget the cost.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| place phrase + verb + subject | literary inversion | Into the valley rode the six hundred. |
| had + past participle | the earlier mistake | Someone had blundered. |
| past participle phrase | what happened to someone | Stormed at with shot and shell, they rode on. |
| Theirs not to…, theirs but to… | an old structure: it was (not) their job to… | Theirs but to do and die. |
| blunder | a careless mistake | Someone had blundered. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. In which war did the charge take place?
2. What went wrong?
3. Where did the Light Brigade ride?
4. How did Tennyson learn about the charge?
5. Why did he record the poem in 1890?
6. What does “the charge of the Light Brigade” mean today?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. Into the valley of Death the six hundred. (ride)
8. Someone had . (made a careless mistake)
9. at with shot and shell, they rode on. (storm)
10. In the corner an old man. (sit, inversion)
11. They knew someone blundered.
12. and hungry, they marched on. (tire)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “Into the valley the six hundred rode.”
14. “Someone has blundered yesterday.”
15. “Surrounded by enemies, he fought bravely.”
16. “Down the hill ran the children.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Gallop. In groups, read the poem aloud together, tapping the rhythm on the table like hooves. Then read stanza VI quietly. How does the feeling change?
Discuss. 1. Is the poem praising the soldiers, criticising the commanders, or both? 2. Should soldiers always obey orders? 3. What other “brave but pointless” actions do you know from history?
Write (120–150 words). A newspaper report, 1854. Report the charge. Use one inversion after a place phrase, the past perfect, and a past participle phrase.
Now play the gamebook: a garbled order, and a charge that must be stopped.Play the gamebook →