Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Charge Of The Light Brigade

Alfred, Lord Tennyson was a leviathan in the world of Victorian literature. His poems and works represented not only the influences of his own personal life, but also those of his society. Nowhere is this shown better than in one of his most famous works, The Charge of the Light Brigade. This work showed many similarities to concurrent literary movements and even some relation to his personal life, despite the fact that the work recites a historical occurrence. These influences vary deeply, but a few notable ones are most prominent in his writing. Most evidently, his holding of the Poet Laureate position influenced him to write nationalistically, his somewhat violent childhood made him more inclined to write about war, and finally his father’s

Many lines are directly religious, with references such as “the mouth of hell” giving the conflict of the poem clearly religious undertones that easily aligned with the state-sponsored Anglican church. This cooperation with established religion not only shows Tennyson’s own influences from the church, but also his intentions of spreading the message of the church. More vividly, Tennyson creates a strongly nationalistic message with this poem. Repetition of “honour … the Light Brigade” helps to elucidate Tennyson’s faith in the army and his support of for his nation’s course of action. Throughout the poem, Tennyson speaks with a deference to the Light Brigade that is rarely rivalled in literature. This is made all the more nationalistic by other assessments of the charge as a complete and utter disaster; the pride expressed in this poem conjures a moral victory for the home front out of a complete and utter defeat in foreign lands. Through the use of honour in association with the military in both victory or defeat, Tennyson conveys both patriotism for England and militarism. The Charge of the Light Brigade clearly shows the influences present on Tennyson through its wording and