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.

‘Forward, the Light Brigade!’
Was there a man dismay’d?
Not tho’ the soldier knew
Some one had blunder’d:
Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

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.

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-smoke
Right thro’ the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel’d from the sabre-stroke
Shatter’d and sunder’d.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

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 well
Came thro’ the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder’d.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

1855
The Charge of the Light Brigade

it makes u wonder............. was that true braverey? or total stupidity? a person watchin from above commented on it's splendour....... another on it's miraculous stupidity....... it's sad when it something so massive and real can actually be catagorized on two total separate ends of the spectrum........ stupidity and bravery.......... how can the two ever be reconciled? i think it's poignantly beautifully sad that six hundred men can totally whole-heartedly plunge headlong into something they know so obviouslt as a deathtrap, yet go on with it........... it's not stupidity..... least not to me............. it's fighting for what u believe in............... making a difference................ fool-hardy? call it what they might........... war certainly brings out the beauty and frailty of mankind doesn't it? that something so cruel and merciless and cold can actually bring out the best in man.......... albeit through their sacrifice........... Like mushrooms........... it's like looking down the tunnel and it seems as if u're looking at it from a hundred years later, and everything's still the same...............
after i graduate and take my exams and get my results back and apply for uni.............. do i truly only begin to fathom and understand the lessons and meanings behind what they try so desperately to cram into your frail tender minds in that brief one and half years............. when you have your whole life ahead of you to lather in it and appreciate it.............. why do we even try so hard? such that we lose the basic meanings and lessons behind all that we do?