The Charge Of The Light Brigade Essay

Based on a true story, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” inspired many with the genuine war cries. The poem tells the story of a brigade consisting of 600 soldiers who rode on horseback into the “valley of death” for half a league. The reasons for the poem’s popularity should be evident because it is such a stirring expression of courage under fire, heroism under impossible odds, of the might of the English military. In “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” the author used setting, imagery, and the point of view to set the poem apart from the rest. Throughout the poem, the author uses the setting to his advantage. “Writing in 1982 and intent on promoting a historicist turn in literary criticism, the marked historical embeddedness of "The Charge of the Light Brigade" did not diminish but on the contrary enhanced its value and interest” (Hack, Wild charges: the Afro-Haitian 'charge of the light brigade ). In late 1854, …show more content…
In most poems have a rhythm scheme, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” is irregular. While in a couple stanzas the author rhymed only two or three lines, other stanzas had a number of couplets and triplets. As the rhythm scheme was indefinite, the form of the poem was also undefined. The author created the poem with unequal stanzas. As Laurence W. Mazzeno described “An eight-line opening stanza gives way to two stanzas of nine lines, in which the poet sets the stage for the charge and describes the entry into the valley” (Mazzeno The Charge of the Light Brigade). The author, much like other authors, uses the repetition and variations of phases to highlight key points. For example “he poem opens with a thrice-repeated phrase so that the effect of the rhythm in the first two lines is to mimic the sound of the charge: “Half a league, half a league,/ Half a league onward” suggests the galloping of the horses charging down the valley” (Mazzeno The Charge of the Light