Elson Grammer School Literature, book 4 | Page 7

"Soft thy skin as silken skein, Soft as woman's hair thy mane, Tender
are thine eyes and true; All thy hoofs like ivory shine, Polished bright;
O life of mine, Leap, and rescue Kurroglou!"
Kyrat, then, the strong and fleet, Drew together his four white feet,
Paused a moment on the verge, Measured with his eye the space, And
into the air's embrace Leaped as leaps the ocean surge.
As the ocean surge o'er sand Bears a swimmer safe to land, Kyrat safe
his rider bore; Rattling down the deep abyss Fragments of the precipice
Rolled like pebbles on a shore.
Roushan's tasseled cap of red Trembled not upon his head; Careless sat
he and upright; Neither hand nor bridle shook, Nor his head he turned
to look, As he galloped out of sight.
Flash of harness in the air, Seen a moment, like the glare Of a sword
drawn from its sheath; Thus the phantom horseman passed, And the

shadow that he cast Leaped the cataract underneath.
Reyhan the Arab held his breath While this vision of life and death
Passed above him. "Allahu!" Cried he. "In all Koordistan Lives there
not so brave a man As this Robber Kurroglou!"
HELPS TO STUDY.
Notes and Questions.
What does the first stanza tell?
The second?
What is the purpose of the fifth stanza?
What comparison is found in the seventh stanza? In the eighth? In the
ninth?
What do we mean by "figure of speech?" Illustrate.
State in your own words the thought in the eleventh stanza.
In next to the last stanza give the meaning of the last three lines.
What lesson of heroism does this poem give you?
Whom should you call the hero of this tale?
Who is Allah? Where is Koordistan?
Words and Phrases for Discussion.
"phantom" "verge" "caravan" "abyss" "garden-girt" "cataract"
* * * * *
THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE AT BALAKLAVA
ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
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: 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 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; Stormed at with shot and shell, While horse
and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came through 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! Oh the wild charge they made! All the
world wondered. Honor the charge they made! Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

HELPS TO STUDY.
Biographical and Historical: Alfred Tennyson was born in that
memorable birth year, 1809, which brought into the world a company
of the greatest men of the century, including Darwin, Gladstone,
Lincoln, Poe, Chopin, and Mendelssohn. He was one of twelve children
who lived together a healthful life of study and sport. Gathering the
other children about him he held them captive with his stories of
knightly deeds--tales drawn partly from his reading and partly from his
fertile fancy. They lived again the thrilling life of joust and tournament.
Past the house in the village of Somersby, in Lincolnshire, where his
father was rector, flowed a brook, in all probability the brook that came
"from haunts of coot and hern... to bicker down a valley." He was a
student at Cambridge, where he met and became deeply attached to
Arthur Henry Hallam, whose death not long afterward inspired the
poem "In Memoriam." In 1850, upon Wordsworth's death, Tennyson
was made poet laureate and the poem commemorating the heroic
charge at Balaklava in 1854, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," shows
how he adorned this office. In 1884 the queen raised him to the peerage,
and from that time he was known as Lord Tennyson. He lived as much
in retirement as was possible, part of the time