The Charge of the Light Brigade
Half a league, half a league,Half a league onward,All in the valley of DeathRode the six hundred.“Forward, the Light Brigade!Charge for the guns!” he said:Into the valley of DeathRode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”Was there a man dismay’d?Not tho’ the soldier knewSome one had blunder’d:Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why.Theirs but to do and die:Into the valley of DeathRode the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of themVolley’d and thunder’d;Storm’d at with shot and shellBoldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of HellRode the six hundred.
Flash’d all their sabers bare,Flash’d as they turn’d in airSab’ring the gunners there,Charging an army, whileAll the world wonder’d:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro’ the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReel’d from the saber-strokeShatter’d and sunder’d.Then they rode back, but notNot the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind themVolleyed and thundered:Stormed at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame through the jaws of deathBack from the mouth of hell,All that was left of them--Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?Oh, the wild charge they made!All the world wondered.Honour the charge they made!Honour the Light Brigade--Noble six hundred!
Words in this poem
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- brigade n.
- A body of troops, whether cavalry, artillery, infantry, or mixed, consisting of two or more regiments, under the command of a brigadier general. [F. brigade, fr. It. brigata troop, crew, brigade, originally, a contending troop, fr. briga trouble, quarrel. See Brigand.]
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- volleyed a.
- Discharged with a sudden burst, or as if in a volley; as, volleyed thunder.
- wondered a.
- Having performed wonders; able to perform wonderful things.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Charge of the Light Brigade is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, The Charge of the Light Brigade, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/the-charge-of-the-light-brigade.html, id L25223.
Form and metre
The Charge of the Light Brigade is 55 lines in 6 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -ABCAABC league · onwardA · deathB · hundredC · brigadeA · saidA · deathB · hundredC
- 2 AA-BCCC-B brigadeA · dismay'dA · knew · blunder'dB · replyC · whyC · dieC · death · hundredB
- 3 AAABCC-CB themA · themA · themA · thunder'dB · shellC · wellC · death · hellC · hundredB
- 4 AAA-BCC-C--B bareA · airA · thereA · while · wonder'dB · smokeC · brokeC · russian · strokeC · sunder'd · not · hundredB
- 5 AAABCCC-CAB themA · themA · themA · thunderedB · shellC · fellC · wellC · death · hellC · themA · hundredB
- 6 AABAAB fadeA · madeA · wonderedB · madeA · brigadeA · hundredB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Half a league, half a league, | 6 | ······ |
| Half a league onward, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| All in the valley of Death | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Rode the six hundred. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| “Forward, the Light Brigade! | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Charge for the guns!” he said: | 6 | ······ |
| Into the valley of Death | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Rode the six hundred. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| “Forward, the Light Brigade!” | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Was there a man dismay’d? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Not tho’ the soldier knew | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Some one had blunder’d: | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Theirs not to make reply, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Theirs not to reason why. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Theirs but to do and die: | 6 | ······ |
| Into the valley of Death | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Rode the six hundred. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Cannon to right of them, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Cannon to left of them, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Cannon in front of them | 6 | /˘···· |
| Volley’d and thunder’d; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Storm’d at with shot and shell | 6 | ······ |
| Boldly they rode and well, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Into the jaws of Death, | 6 | ······ |
| Into the mouth of Hell | 6 | ······ |
| Rode the six hundred. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Flash’d all their sabers bare, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Flash’d as they turn’d in air | 6 | ······ |
| Sab’ring the gunners there, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Charging an army, while | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| All the world wonder’d: | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Plunged in the battery-smoke | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Right thro’ the line they broke; | 6 | ······ |
| Cossack and Russian | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Reel’d from the saber-stroke | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Shatter’d and sunder’d. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Then they rode back, but not | 6 | ······ |
| Not the six hundred. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Cannon to right of them, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Cannon to left of them, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Cannon behind them | 5 | /˘··· |
| Volleyed and thundered: | 6 | /˘˘·/˘ |
| Stormed at with shot and shell, | 6 | ······ |
| While horse and hero fell, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They that had fought so well | 6 | ······ |
| Came through the jaws of death | 6 | ······ |
| Back from the mouth of hell, | 6 | ······ |
| All that was left of them-- | 6 | ······ |
| Left of six hundred. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| When can their glory fade? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Oh, the wild charge they made! | 6 | ······ |
| All the world wondered. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Honour the charge they made! | 6 | /˘···· |
| Honour the Light Brigade-- | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Noble six hundred! | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.