The Charge of The Light Brigade

For IL ( I understand that for almost all posts I start with For English... For ICT... For Drama... and what not) but please bare with me for one last time. Anyways, For IL we were to recite 2 pieces of 2 minute texts. One prose, and one poem.

I chose the poem The Charge of The Light Brigade (not that I knew it or had recited it already.) But because I remembered from the movie 'The Blind Side' Sean Tuohy supposedly Michael Oher's biological father read out the first 30 seconds of this poem. And when I watched the movie it really was a moving and  a little emotional story for me. And I remembered the poem name and it was interesting how he read the poem out aloud and explained it to Michael and applied it to a American football context.

The poem is written by Alfred Lord Tennyson, and it is in a way dedicated to the men who fought in The Battle of Balaclava on October 25th 1854 in the Crimean War.

The poem goes like this:

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

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.

Cannon to the right of them,

Cannon to the 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 turned in air,

Sabring the gunners there,

Charging an army, while 

All the world wonder'd:

Plunged into the battery-smoke

Right through 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 wondered.

Honor the charge they made,

Honor the Light Brigade,

Noble six hundred.

Hope you enjoyed the poem. I will also post the other piece of prose that I had to memorize around tomorrow. 

The Language We Speak

Did you know, the language we speak are mostly words from Greek or Latin. Here are some good examples of a few words that came from Greek;


Hygiene – 1670 Greek word meaning healthy, live well, also a goddess Hygieia

Trophy – 1510 Greek word, means victorious – trope

Chronology – 1590 Greek word, order by time – Chronologia

Pirate – Greek word, sailor, person who robs while out at sea – Peril

Logo – 1937, Greek word that means characters or symbols that represent words – logogram

Astronaut – 1929, - Astronautique

Photograph – 1839 – Photogene and heliograph

Phobia – 1786, from Phobos means fear same spelling

Tripod – 1600, Tripus (Tri three legs) Three legged objects

Telephone – 1835, was a signal by using sound. French word telephone. Tele means far away. Phone means verbal sounds.

Television – Words from French, but are combined using Latin. Vision, and tele combined together. Vision being able to see.

Hypnotism – 1843 Greek word. Neuro-hypnotism. Make someone sleep.

Drama – 1510 Greek word.

Helicopter – 1861, Greek word from helicoptere. An object that moves vertically up

Climate – late 14th century. Climatis, Slope of the Earth

Toxic – 1660. Toxikon, poison for use on arrows.

Automatic – 1812. Automatos, self acting or moving on its own.

Don't you think it is interesting to know a little bit about the language we speak and how it evolved into the words we use today. E.g. Automatic, was spelt and pronounced automatos, but nowadays we have evolved the word into automatic.

Good & Evil

How would YOU define Good & Evil? 


Here are 2 poems written by William Blake in the 18th Century. The Tyger from Songs of Experience and The Lamb from Songs of Innocence; 


The Tyger 
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? 
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire? 
And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet? 
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp? 
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee? 
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? 


The Lamb 
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee

Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.


In the poem it relates The Lamb and The Tyger as Good & Evil, and that how God created us mankind and how cruel we are. 
What do you think about this poem? Leave a comment or response below!