Tennyson

Reading about Tennyson was very interesting...he had so many ups and downs in his life that it is amazing he was able to stay focused on his work and accomplish all that he did. As I read the very first quote of Tennyson's biography, "There, that is the first money you have ever earned by your poetry, and, take my words for it, it will be the last.", which is something that his grandfather told him, I realized how determined Tennyson must have been. Most people would not continue on with a passion if they did not have the support of their family and Tennyson's grandfather clearly did not believe in his ability. I just though this showed how much perseverance Tennyson must have had. He continued to show his determination and perseverance when his very best friend died and Tennyson was crushed.

Tennyson had some wonderful works that spoke about the death of his friend and the grieving process that Tennyson went through to get through his loss. The works he created after the death of his friend were some of his best and most recognized works. As I was reading, however, I really enjoyed "The Charge of the Light Brigade" the most. I found the poem to be very easy to read. There was no extremely deep meaning behind the poem, but I did find a few interesting characteristics about the poem.

First of all, I thought the rhyming pattern in the poem made it feel very light and fun to read. I thought this was ironic because the content of the poem was actually very heavy and a little depressing. The first time I read the poem, I enjoyed it but I didn't really pay attention to what the poem was discussing. When I went through and read it again, I realized that this poem was talking about the death of hundreds of men.

At one point the poem states, "Forward, the Light Brigade!/ Was there a man dismay'd?/ Not tho' the soldier knew/ Some on had blunder'd;/ 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."(9-17). This part of the poem was especially sad to me. Here is this group of men that are marching to their death because of an order of someone else. Because of their position, they cannot question this order and they can't disobey, so all they have left to do is obey and die. This to me is sad because these men cannot control their future. They have put their lives in the hands of others and that is a very scary thing to do. I think Tennyson wants the reader to honor these men because they were fighting for their country when the leadership led them to their deaths, but they did not question it...they just continued to fight for their land.

The poem goes on to tell that these soldiers fought hard, but that not all six hundred returned. At one point he states, "Cannon to right of them,/ Cannon to left of them,/Cannon behind them/ Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell,/ While horse and hero fell,/ They that had fought so well/ Came thro' the jaws of Death,/ Back from the mouth of Hell,/ All that was left of them,/ Left of six hundred."(39-49). In these lines, Tennyson is telling of all that this brigade went through. He is basically stating that six hundred men were foolishly led into this horrible place that he compares to Hell. These men fought bravely, but not all of them returned...in fact, most of them did not. The footnote states that 400 of the 600 men were killed. These two hundred men according to Tennyson essentially escaped death. They were lucky not to die. The other four hundred were not so lucky and lost their lives because of an order.

The last section of the poem states, "When can their glory fade?/ O the wild chard they made!/ All the world wonder'd./ Honour the charge they made!/ Honour the Light Brigade,/ Noble six hundred!"(50-55). This last section describes how the people felt about this charge. They respected these men for their bravery. I do wonder, however, if there might have been a little bit of sarcasm in this poem because in my mind although these men were brave to fight in the way that they did, it was also extremely stupid. Does this stupidity make them noble? Perhaps the men that fought and died are noble because they were not the ones that made the decision to make the charge...they just took orders and served their country.