Stanza 1, Line 1-4

Half a league is about

2.5km. This is the distance
amy had to march

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred. Six hundred soldiers
rode on horses

Death is all around the

soldier and they could not
escape it
Stanza 1, Line 5-8

Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns!' he said :
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
.
The commander
ordered the soldiers to
charge at the enermy

The brigade had been ordered into the valley,

and they were riding in,even though they
knew that guns and "Death" were waiting for
them.

Charge : move towards

Valley of death : dangerous
place
Stanza 2, Line 1-4
Repeating the command from line 5 shows
the commanding officer was determined
there was no going back.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'

Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered :
dismayed: worried or
scared
blundered: mistake
That first word, "not," implies
that these men didn't feel
discouraged at all. They were
ready to do their job, even
though the order might be crazy
(soldiers knew that someone had
make a mistake)
Stanza 2, Line 5-7
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die :
The soldiers were only following
the orders. They were just doing
their job even though they knew
they would certainly be killed.

That job did not permit them to talk back

to their commanders ("make reply") or to
figure out the point of the attack ("reason
why"). All they could do was to ride and
fight and possibly die ("do and die").
Stanza 2, Line 8-9

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

These last two lines are the same as the last two lines in
the first stanza.
It emphasises that these men were riding to their
death. The Light Brigade was ordered to advance into a
valley surrounded by enemy soldiers.
Stanza 3, Line 1-4

Cannon to right of them,

The cannons were shooting at
Cannon to left of them, them in their right, left and
infront.
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered,

volleyed: fired by a lot of

bullets
Thundered : a very loud
sound
Stanza 3, Line 5-6

Stormed at with shot and shell The "shot" (bullets) and "shell"
(big explosives fired from
Boldly they rode and well, cannon) are a violent, noisy,
destructive force

These guys were not scared of

the gunfire. In fact, they rode
"boldly" (bravely) even though
it seemed more and more like
a suicide mission.

stormed: Rushed with

anger
Stanza 3, Line 7-9

Into the jaws of Death,

Into the mouth of Hell,
Rode the six hundred.

The ‘jaws of Death’ brings an image of inescapability – the men had

been gripped by a monster and Death was waiting for them.
The ‘mouth of Hell’ also brings an image of sheer horror. It is as if
the earth has opened up to swallow the men – they will die terribly.