The Charge of the Light Brigade
Throughout the course of The Charge of The Light Brigade (a poem the based the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War), Lord Alfred Tennyson uses many poetic techniques such as imagery, intertextuality, rhyming, and meter to highlight loyalty leads to sacrifice.
It does not seem accidental that the author uses similar language to the 'Valley of the shadow of death' (Old testament, Psalm 23) in lines 3,7 and 16 with the words "valley of death" this reference to religion could be interpreted to mean the loyalty had lead to a much more religious sacrifice had taken place.
However if the reader does not pickup on this or does not share the same view there are still many instances in which Tennyson has shown us this re-occurring theme. For example, not once throughout the poem did the "Nobel 600" question the orders that were given to them yet these loyal men knew they would be charging to their death, this is illustrated in the second stanza (lines 10 -14) with the following quote; "Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew someone had blunder'd"
In addition to this Tennyson uses both imagery and hyperbole to complement each other when it comes to describing how major this sacrifice is, for example in lines 24-26 “into the jaws of Death, into the mouth of Hell rode the six hundred”. The image formed in the readers head is very vivid this is not only because Tennyson applies the use of imagery but also uses a hyperbole to emphasize the very real danger they light brigade was in.
The free verse poem also uses rhyming techniques (e.g. on lines 13-15 “theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do or die”) and a constant meter to encage the audience.
It does not seem accidental that the author uses similar language to the 'Valley of the shadow of death' (Old testament, Psalm 23) in lines 3,7 and 16 with the words "valley of death" this reference to religion could be interpreted to mean the loyalty had lead to a much more religious sacrifice had taken place.
However if the reader does not pickup on this or does not share the same view there are still many instances in which Tennyson has shown us this re-occurring theme. For example, not once throughout the poem did the "Nobel 600" question the orders that were given to them yet these loyal men knew they would be charging to their death, this is illustrated in the second stanza (lines 10 -14) with the following quote; "Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew someone had blunder'd"
In addition to this Tennyson uses both imagery and hyperbole to complement each other when it comes to describing how major this sacrifice is, for example in lines 24-26 “into the jaws of Death, into the mouth of Hell rode the six hundred”. The image formed in the readers head is very vivid this is not only because Tennyson applies the use of imagery but also uses a hyperbole to emphasize the very real danger they light brigade was in.
The free verse poem also uses rhyming techniques (e.g. on lines 13-15 “theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do or die”) and a constant meter to encage the audience.