The Charge of the Light Brigade (poem)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

The Charge of the Light Brigade is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson about the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Tennyson's poem, published December 9, 1854 in The Examiner, praises the Brigade, "When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!", while mourning the appalling futility of the charge: "Not tho' the soldier knew, someone had blunder'd… Charging an army, while all the world wonder'd." Tennyson wrote the poem inside only a few minutes after reading an account of the battle in The Times, according to his grandson Sir Charles Tennyson. It immediately became hugely popular, even reaching the troops in the Crimea, where it was distributed in pamphlet form.

Each stanza tells a different part of the story, and there is a delicate balance between realism and glorification throughout. The poem's many refrains add tension and make for an entrancing rhythm. Although Tennyson's subject is the nobleness of supporting one's country, and the poem's tone and cadences are rousing, its surfaces are pockmarked by the brutal reality of war in phrases such "Onto the valley of Death," “Mouth of Hell” and the alliterative ”Storm'd at with shot & shell”.

An audio recording of Tennyson reading The Charge of the Light Brigade, made in 1890 on a wax cylinder, is available online [1]

Contents

[edit] Kipling's response

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

In 1881, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem in response, entitled The Last of the Light Brigade, which attempted to shame the British public by depicting the difficult conditions suffered by the survivors of the Light Brigade.

[edit] Influence on popular culture

  • The chorus of a New Model Army song "The Charge" from the album Thunder & Consolation alludes to The Charge of the Light Brigade, using the words Into the valley of death rode the brave hundreds.
  • The Charge of the Light Brigade was recited by Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer in the "Two Too Young" episode of Our Gang/The Little Rascals.
  • An impromptu rendition was performed by the character Geoffrey on the TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, while he was in disguise as a street poet. Breaking into his regular British accent and devastating Will's ruse to deliver the lines "Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Volley'd & thunder'd!"
  • In the episode "The Stormy Present" in the series The West Wing the character Toby Ziegler (played by Richard Schiff) says "Into the Valley of Death rode the 600."
  • In the episode "Jobs For The Boys" in the series Yes Minister, a minor character remarks to James Hacker, 'Into the Valley of Death rode Mr Hacker'.
  • The 60s rock band Pearls Before Swine, fronted by Tom Rapp, titled its second album "Balaklava" and it contained a song about the charge, preceded by an early sound recording of the recollections of the Light Brigade bugler, who survived.
  • A popular mondegreen is "Haffely, Gaffely, Gaffely Gonward", instead of "Half a league, half a league, half a league onward".
  • In the episode "Sacrifice of Angels" of the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the lines "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 & shell, Boldly they rode & well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred." were recited by the characters of Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir. This occurred as they were entering battle as part of a 621-strong fleet against an enemy double their size. There were even more similarities to the historical charge of the light brigade when small fighters were ordered to attack the enemy lines while the larger, stronger units held back.
  • In the movie Saving Private Ryan, Corporal Upham quotes the poem by saying, "Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die." (sic) (correct quotation is "do and die".
  • Pop band The Divine Comedy recorded a song Charge on the album Casanova featuring lyrics from The Charge of the Light Brigade.
  • The Godzilla comic book from Dark Horse features a band of time-travelling pirates who at one point are told by their leader a distorted version of Lord Tennyson's poem, "Yours is not to wonder why, yours is but to follow my instructions to the letter and eat pie in the sky".
  • The song Millionaire Waltz, by the band Queen, contains the line "Bring on the charge of the love brigade", which may be a parody on this poem.
  • In an episode of the 1960s sitcom Get Smart in which Control's Chief is kidnapped, Smart auctions off Chief's office furnishings to help raise the ransom money. Later, after Chief is rescued and returns to the empty office, he asks what has happened to all his belongings. After Max informs him of the auction, Chief asks how much money has been raised. Max replies by asking Chief to remember The Charge of the Light Brigade, revealing the dollar amount by stopping Chief when he reaches "... the 600!"
  • In the loading screens of the map Riverdance (a Tribes 2 map) the lines "Storm'd at with shot & shell, Boldly they rode & well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell" from the poem are displayed, before a new match starts or is joined.
  • The song "In the Presence of Enemies" by Dream Theater is based on The Charge of the Light Brigade, with appropriate sound effects and samples.
  • In the comic book Universe X the battle of dead Marvel heroes against death itself is referred to as "The Last Charge of the Light Brigade"
  • Southern Hip Hop artist Chill Will uses the lines "Cannon's to the left of them, Cannon's to the right of them, Cannon's in front of them" in the song "Chop Chop"

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/h/e/The_Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade_%28poem%29_ca9c.html"