Heres a virtual movie of Alfred Lord Tennyson reading his much celebrated poem "The charge of the light brigade" The Charge of the Light Brigade" is an 1854 narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson about the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. He was the poet laureate of the United Kingdom at the time of the writing of the poem.

The sound track comes from a wax cylinder recording he made for an Edison Recording agent in 1890. This poem was recorded alongside several others on a set of twenty three soft wax cylinders most of which have perished eaten by mould.Wax cylinders were made from an organic material rather like hard soap. Although the age of this recording age and the primitive technology sometimes renders words inaudible, Tennyson's voice comes through clearly, intoning the pounding dactylic rhythms of the verse which gives it a breathless momentum.Hearing Tennyson read his poems confirms to me that even late in life as he was and in poor health no one can read his poetry as effectively as he could,there is a mysterious knocking noise towards the end of the recording of which we can only speculate,it has been suggested that Tennyson may have made the noise in an attempt to create the sound of horses hoofs.,

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS (6 August 1809 -- 6 October 1892) was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language.
Kind Regards

Jim Clark
All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2011

The Charge of the Kight Brigade........

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-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.


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 well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back 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.

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