About the poem:
This poem was written by Lord Alfred Tennyson as a tribute to the honour and courage displayed by the British cavalrymen during the Battle of Balaclava. This battle took place on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, between Britain and Russia. There were two armies fighting against each other one of Britain and another of Russia. The Light Brigade had six hundred soldiers.
They advanced to the Death valley to charge for the guns against the Russian army but they all could not come back only a few of them returned. The British army was cavalry and the Russian army was artillery. The Russian army had more power than the British army because they had heavy weapons; different types of guns, cannons etc but the British army had only swords and sabres so it was considered to be weak.
The theme of the poem: The poem has suicidal theme.
The Charge of the Light Brigade Poem Questions and Answers
Question 1: Who is the commander in this poem?
Answer: The commander of the Light Brigade is the speaker in this poem.
Question 2: What does the poet say to the readers in the last stanza?
Answer: The poet tells them to honour and glorify the soldiers who fought against the Russian army without having much stock of weapons. He further wants that their glory should never fail.
Question 3: What does dismay’d mean in this poem?
Answer: In the stanza second dismay’d means ‘discouraged’ or ‘disappointed’.
Question 4: What was the ‘blunder’? Who do you think had blundered?
Answer: The blunder means miscommunication or mistake into the orders given by the commander. The commander had blundered.
Question 5: Who suffered because of the blunder?
Answer: The soldiers of the Light Brigade who advanced to the Death valley to fight with the Russian army suffered because of the blunder.
Question 6: Why do the soldiers charge at their opponents despite knowing that it was a blunder?
Answer: The soldiers charge at their opponents despite knowing that it was a blunder because their commander had trained them to do so and not to reply but to follow the orders of their commander. Their commander gave them order to advance and to do or to die.
Question 7: Which lines in the poem indicate that the soldiers were trapped from three sides as they charged into the battle?
Answer: The following lines in the poem indicate that the soldiers were trapped from three sides as they charged into the battle are as follows:
Cannon to right of them
Cannon to left of them
Cannon behind them
Question 8: Which two phrases does the poet use to describe the danger which the cavalrymen were riding into?
Answer: The following two phrases the poet uses to describe the danger which the cavalrymen were riding into are as follows:
Into the jaws of Death
Into the mouth of Hell
Question 9: Which lines tell us that the soldiers of the Light Brigade were really effective in their attack?
Answer: The following lines tell us that the soldiers of the Light Brigade were really effective in their attack are as follows:
Plunged in the battery – smoke
Right thro’ the line they broke,
Cossack and Russian
Reel’d from the sabre stroke
Question: 10: Explain the meaning of the lines ‘Then they rode back, but not/Not the six hundred.’
Answer: These lines tell us that the six hundred soldiers advanced to sacrifice their lives didn’t come back all of them but a few of them returned.
External Questions form this Poem
Question 1: Who is the speaker of this poem?
Answer: The commander of the Light Brigade is the speaker of this poem.
Question 2: During which war was the poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brook’ written?
Answer: Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote this poem during the Crimean War between British army and Russian army in the year 1854.
Question 3: Why do you think the poet refers the valley as ‘The Valley of Death’?
Answer: The poet refers the valley as ‘The Valley of Death’ because the soldiers knew that they were going to loose their life and they would never come back.
Question 4: What kind of weapons did the light Brigade have?
Answer: The Light Brigade had spears, swords and bows.
Question 5: Why did the soldiers advanced to their death?
Answer: The soldiers advanced to their death because their commander had ordered them not to reply and not to come back. The had to do or die.
Question 6: In the first stanza, what was the Light Brigade ordered to do?
Answer: In the first stanza, the Light Brigade was ordered to advance to the Death valley to assault against the Russian army where they had set cannons and other heavy weapons. But the Light Brigade was less armed.
Question 7: On which historical event, the poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ based?
Answer: The poem is based on the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War between Britain and Russia.
Question 8: How many soldiers of the ‘Light Brigade’ survived unwounded during the Battle of Balaclava?
Answer: 195 soldiers out of 600 were survived unwounded during the Battle of Balaclava.
Question 9: What is meant by ‘Light Brigade?
Answer: A military unit not heavily armed is called a Light Brigade.
Question 10: By what things was the valley of Death surrounded?
Answer: The Valley of Death was surrounded by Russian cannons.
Question 11: Why did the soldiers advance to the Death Valley?
Answer: The soldiers advanced to the Death Valley because their commander had ordered them to do so.
Question 12: What does the word ‘battery – smoke’ mean?
Answer: ‘Battery – smoke’ means a smoke emitting from a number of large guns used together.
Question 13: What historical event inspired Lord Alfred Tennyson to write this poem?
Answer: The poem was inspired by a real event the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War between Britain and Russia.
Question 14: Who gave the title ‘Lord’ to Alfred Tennyson?
Answer: The Prime Minister William Gladstone
Question: 15: What is the life span of Lord Alfred Tennyson? Which period was he related to?
Answer: Lord Alfred Tennyson was born in 1809 and died in 1892. He belonged to the Victorian Peri
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