In my view Tennyson gives the impression of war being very noble, heroic, honourable yet also dark and those members of the Light Brigade participating in war are doomed and condemned. He also conveys a period of history when no soldier would disagree with, or dare resist an order whatever the consequences. It was a time when it was honourable to die in war, for your country, and for your King.
Tennyson gives the impression of war being noble and heroic because of the references to the Light Brigade.Constant references and praise is conveyed to The Light Brigade making a charge in battle. Tennyson views this as the bravest act of a soldier in war. An example of this is "Forward the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns! " which highlights the bravery and valour of the charge, especially with the use of exclamation marks, which give the feeling of strength and energy, zest and life to the charge. This line, (Forward the Light Brigade! ), is the one of the most frequent lines in the poem and is used to highlight the bravery of the Light Brigade.Other lines reinforce this view: -"Boldly they rode and well", "Charging an army.
.. " "Canon to the right, left, in front of them (refers to what they were charging into)" The whole of the last verse, especially the recurring "Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred! " Tennyson again reinforces the concept of nobility and honour, especially with his use of exclamation marks, eg. "O the wild charge they made! " Despite this, I believe Tennyson also gives the view that war is dark and that the soldiers were already condemned by the dark imagery used in the poem.
The Light Brigade is portrayed as riding into death, to meet death and fate almost. Examples of this are "Into the valley of Death", "Into the jaws of death, into the mouth of hell" with each line followed by "Rode the six hundred. " This shows that Tennyson, despite describing the war as noble, is perhaps indicating that the war is dark and the Light Brigade were already going to die. Perhaps, he is adding to the valour of the Light Brigade by saying they were so brave that they rode to their deaths and that they are so courageous that they are riding out to meet their fate.Tennyson emphasizes death by using capital letters for death and hell, eg. "Into the valley of Death".
Tennyson also portrays the pace of the battle as being very quick and full of zest by developing a fast rhythm and pace within the poem. He does this in many ways: Firstly, he uses anaphoric phrasing, such as "Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward," This repetition emphasizes the fast paced rhythm, thus emphasizing the quick pace and energy and zest surrounding the charge and the battle.Secondly, he uses rhyming triplets and couplets to give this fast tempo, such as "Stormed at with shot and shell, Boldy they rode and well," and "Their's not to make reply, Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die:" Lastly, he uses anaphoric phrases over several lines, such as "Their's not to make reply, Their's not to reason why, Their's but to do and die:" which give zest to the charge. Tennyson, not just gives the poem great energy and a fast pace but he also slows it down as the Light Brigade are getting shot at.An example of this is "Reeled from the sabre-stroke Shattered and sundered. " These lines slow the pace as they take longer to say and the last line is followed by a full stop which emphasizes the pause.
Tennyson also emphasizes slowing down with colons, such as "All the world wondered" and "'... Charge for the guns! ' he said:" The impression given by Tennyson of the times and history in which this poem was composed is that it was a time when it was honourable to fight and die for your nation.We know this from lines such as "Honour the charge they made, Honour the Light Brigade! For Tennyson it was a time when no man would dispute or question a higher ranked officer's or a General's decision. From the entire second verse, especially "Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.
.. " With all points considered, it is my opinion that the impression Tennyson gives of war is that it is noble, heroic and brave to fight, though, perhaps, war is dark and destructive. The impression of history Tennyson gives is that the time was that when war was glorious and imperialistic and at a time when no decision was questioned, no matter how great or obvious the errors of war are.
