The Charge of the Light Brigade summary

Lines 1-8: The poem is written by English poet Lord Alfred Tennyson. The poem is about the involvement of British military in the Crimean War that was fought between Turkey and Russia. In 1854. British army entered the war.

In the beginning, the poet says that a brigade of six hundred soldiers rode on horseback into the path of death for about one and a half miles. The soldiers moved towards the battle obeying the command to charge and face the enemy. The British soldiers took part It the war in favour of Russia. Though the enemy forces captured their guns, the six hundred soldiers did not stop. They, kept on moving towards the battle into the path of death.

Lines 9-17: Not a single soldier was discouraged or hopeless to go forward though they knew that their commander had made a mistake. The soldiers obeyed their commander. They did not make any comments to the wrong decision of the commander. They did not ask any question. They moved forward to die into the path of death. They were six hundred soldiers who moved forward to face death.

Lines 18-26: The six hundred soldiers were attacked by the shots of shells of cannons on the right side, on the left side, from the front side. Shells of cannons were blasted from all sides. But they moved forward towards the enemies courageously. They knew that they would die but they followed the command and willingly they moved towards the hell of death (battle).

In the poem the poet emphasizes the valour of this brigade in carrying out their orders, regardless of the obvious outcome. Tennyson begins the poem describing how the six hundred soldiers of the Light Brigade marched forward fearlessly right into the jaws of death. They even did not know if there had been some mistake because it was not their duty to question any order. So, they marched onward facing the fire of the canon. They could scatter some of the gunners but they were forced to retreat immediately. Though they fought their best, only a few could survive. Here the poet glorifies the soldiers of the Light Brigade because of fighting bravely despite knowing the fact that they would be defeated and even die. Thus, the poet pays tributes to these soldiers through this poem.

The commander of the British forces, had intended to send the Light Brigade to pursue and hurry a retreating Russian artillery battery. But due to miscommunication in the chain of command, the Light Brigade was instead sent on a frontal assault against a different artillery battery which was well prepared with defensive fire. In the poem the poet emphasizes the valour of this brigade in carrying out their orders, regardless of the obvious outcome.