The Charge Of The Light Brigade Figurative Language

The author of The Charge of the Light Brigade uses a variety of poetic elements that could affect the reader’s understanding of the true events of the Battle of Balaclava. For example, certain parts of this poem are exaggerated. The poem also has fictional qualities, such as imagery and figurative language, that could hinder the reader’s understanding of certain parts of the battle. Finally, the poet uses rhyme and repetition to emphasize moments in the battle that may only be important to him. All of these elements could change the way the reader thinks about the Battle of Balaclava. To begin with, the poem is exaggerated and puts stress on some lines that could be untrue. There are also some phrases in the poem that could confuse the reader as to what’s happening. For example, “Into the jaws of Death,/Into the mouth of Hell/Rode the six hundred” (lines 25-27, Tennyson) could be misleading to some

This could cause him or her to misunderstand a line, stanza, or even the entire poem. Sound words like “thunder’d” and “storm’d” (lines 42-43, Tennyson) give the impression that there was lots of noise at the battle to the common reader. However, the use of these words might have had different definitions when the poem was written, so the author could have possibly had a separate meaning for those words. Additionally, phrases like “Plunged in the battery smoke” (line 32, Tennyson) and “Flash’d all their sabres bare” (line 27, Tennyson) appeal to the reader’s vision and makes him or her think of a foggy day and the reflection of light off of knives and swords. If the reader didn’t understand this, it would make the poem seem confusing. Furthermore, grammar and spelling from the 1800’s are different from today’s grammar and spelling. All of these unfamiliar components could hinder a reader’s comprehension of the