The Charge of the Light Brigade

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:
Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s 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
Volley’d and thundered;
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.

Line STANZA 1 INTERPRETATION

no.
1 Half a league, half a league,
2 Half a league onward,
3 All in the valley of Death
4 Rode the six hundred.
5 “Forward, the Light Brigade!
A league is an old way to measure distance,
and it was equal to about 3 miles. So half a
league is roughly a mile and a half– the
brigade/battalion was
charging forward in the battlefield
The place where many soldiers would die in
the battle (very scary & uncertain)
The exact number of soldiers was 600, riding
horses
The captain commanded the soldiers to
move forward bravely
Note: they are called "Light" to separate
them from the "Heavy Brigade," another
kind of cavalry unit at the time.Tennyson's

6 Charge for the guns!” he said.
7 Into the valley of Death
8 Rode the six hundred.
Line STANZA 2
no.
1 “Forward, the Light Brigade!”
2 Was there a man dismayed?
3 Not though the soldier knew
4 Some one had blundered.
5 Theirs not to make reply,
6 Theirs not to reason why,
7 Theirs but to do and die.
8 Into the valley of Death
9 Rode the six hundred.
Line STANZA 3
no.
1 Cannon to right of them,
2 Cannon to left of them,
3 Cannon in front of them
4 Volleyed and thundered;
poem is based on real events. In 1854, there
was a Charge of the Light Brigade during the
Crimean War.
The soldiers were ordered to attack
The soldiers moved to the battlefield,
prepared to fight and to die fighting.The
brigade was ordered into the valley, even
though they knew that they were going to
die.
Emphasis on the small number of soldiers –
few but brave soldiers riding on horseback
INTERPRETATION
Again, the captain commanded the
soldiers to move forward
Was there any soldier who would lose
his courage, be terrified or sad?
Of course the Light Brigade was too
tough and loyal to feel dismayed. These
men did not feel discouraged at all. They
were ready to do their job, even though
the order might be crazy (to meet their
death).
The soldiers knew that this charge was
not a good idea, that someone had
made a mistake.
The soldiers were loyal and obedient –
they did not talk back to their
commander
Or to figure out the point of the attack
All they could do was to ride and fight
and possibly die
Repetition of stanza 1 – to emphasize
courage/bravery, loyalty, commitment,
duty
INTERPRETATION
The soldiers were surrounded by enemy
cannon on their left, right and front. Bad
news for the Light Brigade – they were
actually surrounded by enemies.
So the huge walls of cannon all around
them were firing and making a sound

5 Stormed at with shot and shell,
6 Boldly they rode and well,
7 Into the jaws of Death,
8 Into the mouth of Hell
9 Rode the six hundred.
like thunder
The soldiers in the Light Brigade were
being shot at with bullets and big
explosives fired from the cannon - a
violent, noisy, destructive force that
sounded like a storm.
These soldiers were not scared of the
gunfire. They rode bravely, confidently
and with determination. It shows us how
heroic these men were.
They were ready/willing to die of
honour
‘Hell’ – suffering and torture but the
soldiers were brave
600 brave/courageous soldiers – men of
honour

Synopsis
The poem is a war about 600 soldiers of the Light Brigade who were ordered to charge into a valley
where the enemies were waiting. There were guns or cannons to the right, left and front of them. As the
soldiers rode into the valley they were attacked on all sides. Still they rode on and attacked the soldiers
they saw. On their retreat they were attacked just as badly on all sides. Many of these soldiers died. It
was in the line of duty and no one protested when the order was given for them to ride into the valley of
death.

Vocabulary Enrichment Activities

Fill in the blanks with suitable meaning

WORDS MEANING WORDS MEANING

Half Volleyed
league shot
onward shell
All Boldly
valley well
Death jaws
Rode mouth
six hundred Hell
Forward
Light Brigade
Charge
guns
he
said
a man
there
dismayed
though
soldier
knew
Someone
blundered
Theirs
reply
die
Into
Cannon
right
them
left
front

SPM Practice 1
a)Which word in stanza means “attack”?
____________________________________________________
b) Explain the words “Half a league onward”.
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
c) Why did the Light Brigade ride into the valley of death?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
d) “rode the six hundred”

Besides riding as ordered, what do you think the soldier could have done? Give a reason for your
answer.
Action: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Reason:___________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

SPM Practice 2

a) In stanza 2, which word means ‘to feel uneasy’?

____________________________________________________

b) In stanza 2, which phrase means ‘willingness to honour one’s duty to one’s country’?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

c) Why do you think the order was given to the soldiers?

____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

d) ‘boldly they rode and well’

What does this line tells us about the soldiers? Give a reason to support your answer.

Soldiers:__________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Reason:___________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

SPM Practice 3
a) Who had given orders for the soldiers to ride into the valley?
____________________________________________________

b) What answer can we give for the question ‘Was there a man dismayed’? Give a reason for your
answer?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

c) What is the main theme of the poem? Why do you think this is the main theme?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

d)’someone had blundered’

If the soldiers had refused to follow the order, what would the commander do? Give a reason to support
your answer.
Action:____________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Reason:___________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

SPM Practice 4

a) From stanza 3, which word mean ‘to do things with confidence’?

____________________________________________________

b) From stanza 3, which phrase give a good image of the horrors of war? Why do you say so?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

c) In the sentence ‘stormed at with shot and shell’, how would you describe the dead victims?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

d) ‘Theirs not to reason why’

Give another situation when soldiers are not allowed to reason why. Give a reason to support your
answer.
Situation:_________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Reason:___________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

SPM Practice 5

a) In stanza 3, which word means ‘an explosive sound’?

____________________________________________________

b) Describe the situation the soldiers rode into in the valley.

____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

c) Why do you think the commander gave the wrong order?

____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

d) ‘into the mouth of Hell’

Considering the situation did the soldiers stand a chance of getting out of the valley alive? Give a reason
to support your answer.
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

Answers:
 WORDS MEANING WORDS MEANING
Half Sebahagian/separuh Volleyed Tembakkan serentak
A league 1.5 batu(jarak) shot Ditembak
onward Maju ke depan shell Letupan/tembakkan
All semua Boldly Dengan terus terang
valley Lembah well Mengalir
Death Kematian/ajal jaws Ternganga
Rode Bergerak/berangkat mouth Mulut
six hundred Enam ratus Hell neraka
Forward Ke depan/di depan
Light Brigade “nama pasukan tentera”
Charge serang
guns Meriam/senapang
he Dia lekaki
said Telah berkata
a man Seorang lelaki
there Di sana
dismayed Menakutkan/kecewa
though Bagaimanapun
soldier Tentera/askar
knew Telah tahu/mengetahui
Someone Seseorang
blundered Kesilapan yang sia-sia
Theirs Kepunyaan mereka
reply Membalas
die Mati
Into Ke dalam
Cannon Meriam
right Kanan
them Mereka
left Kiri
front depan

Answers

SPM Practice 1
a) The word is ‘charge’
b) The meaning is to go ahead or forward for a distance of half a league.
c) They rode into the valley of death because they were following orders.
d) Action : No, I do not think they could have done anything else.
Reason: They were soldiers and soldiers are expected to follow orders given by their superior.

SPM Practice 2
a) The word is ‘dismayed’
b) The phrase is ‘do and die’
c) I think the commander hoped to flush out the enemy soldiers from the valley.
d) Soldiers: I would say that the soldiers were heroic in their attitude and behaviour.
Reason: They were caught in the line of fire and yet they did not turn back but rode on proudly.

SPM Practice 3
a) The commander of the Light Brigade.
b) The answer would be no one was upset by the order because they were prepared to accept any order
given by the commander.
c) The main theme is warfare because it is about the war between the Light Brigade and another army.
d) Action: The commander would order them to be court martialed.
Reason: This is because ignoring a commander’s order is a grave offence for a soldier.

SPM Practice 4
a) The word is ‘boldly’.
b) The phrase is ‘volleyed and thundered’ because it means all the cannons were fired almost
simultaneously at the soldiers giving an image of the horrors of war.
c) Their bodies would most likely be dismembered very badly.
d) Situation: Another situation would be fighting in a civil war that is forced to fire at your fellowmen.
Reason: If a civil war breaks out in one’s country, soldiers will have to put aside their sentiments and
fight against their own countrymen.

SPM Practice 5
a) The word is ‘thundered’
b) They rode into a death trap with cannons facing them from all directions.
c) He gave the wrong order possibly because he did not notice the cannons or he did not expect the
enemies to be so well equipped.
d) Chance : No, considering the situation, they did not stand a chance.
Reason: The reason is because there were cannons all around them and they rode straight into the
battlefield.