THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

by: Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)

      I
       
      ALF 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.
       
      II
       
      'Forward the Light Brigade!'
      Was there a man dismay'd?
      Not tho' the soldier knew
      Some one had blunder'd.
      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.
       
      III
       
      Cannon to right of them,
      Cannon to 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.
       
      IV
       
      Flash'd all their sabres bare,
      Flash'd as they turned in air
      Sabring the gunners there,
      Charging an army, while
      All the world wonder'd.
      Plunged into 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.
       
      V
       
      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,
      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 was left of them,
      Left of six hundred.
       
      VI
       
      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!

'The Charge of the Light Brigade' is reprinted from English Poems. Ed. Edward Chauncey Baldwin. New York: American Book Company, 1908.

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