The Charge of the Light Brigade
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson(1854)
Poemc. 2 pages
“Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.”
One great work, every day
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson(1854)
“Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson(1854)
Six hundred British cavalry rode into a valley of Russian guns at Balaclava in 1854 because of a confused order. Tennyson wrote his poem weeks later, honoring their courage while acknowledging the blunder. The dactylic rhythm drives forward like a charge; the repetitions (theirs not to reason why) become liturgical. The poem is propaganda for heroism, and it works: the brigade's doomed ride has become a permanent image of noble futility. Tennyson knew what he was doing. The poem still does it.