The Charge of the Light Brigade

My father loved poetry probably because of the love of the story telling that poems can give, but by the insistance of the teachers that the students memorize them. This is another poem by Lord Tenneson that dad loved and without provocation would all of a sudden come pouring out of his mouth with a twinkle in his eyes. I think he liked showing off a bit... I wonder if I could be just a little bit like him? Hmm
1.
Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward,All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred."Forward, the Light Brigade!"Charge for the guns!" he said:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
2.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"Was there a man dismay'd?Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd:Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
3.
Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.
4.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,Flash'd as they turn'd in air,Sabring the gunners there,Charging an army, while All the world wonder'd:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro' the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReel'd from the sabre stroke Shatter'd and sunder'd.Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred.
5.
Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind them Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame thro' the jaws of DeathBack from the mouth of Hell,All that was left of them, Left of six hundred.
6.
When can their glory fade?O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered.Honor the charge they made,Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred.

Copied from Poems of Alfred Tennyson,J. E. Tilton and Company, Boston, 1870
This poem is one of many published by the EServer, a non-profit collective of students and faculty at Iowa State University.

My dad loved to put the fun accents and the loud and the soft words to make the poem really fun for us kids as well as when we were grownups.

One of the most famous lines of this poem" theirs was not to reason why theirs but to do or die" Isn't it interesting that those old old poems have lessons that last for centuries. I wanted a picture to add a little sparkle to this poem. There are hundreds to choose from, so I chose a picture of one of the soldiers of the brigade.