Tiresias, and Other Poems/The Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava
THE CHARGE OF THE HEAVY BRIGADE AT BALACLAVA.
October 25, 1854.
I.The charge of the gallant three hundred, the Heavy Brigade!Down the hill, down the hill, thousands of Russians,Thousands of horsemen, drew to the valley–and stay’d;For Scarlett and Scarlett’s three hundred were riding byWhen the points of the Russian lances arose in the sky; And he call'd, 'Left wheel into line!' and they wheel'd and obey'd.Then he look'd at the host that had halted he knew not why,And he turn'd half round, and he bad his trumpeter soundTo the charge, and he rode on ahead, as he waved his bladeTo the gallant three hundred whose glory will never die–'Follow,' and up the hill, up the hill, up the hill,Follow'd the Heavy Brigade.
II.The trumpet, the gallop, the charge, and the might of the fight! Thousands of horsemen had gather'd there on the height,With a wing push'd out to the left, and a wing to the right,And who shall escape if they close? but he dash'd up aloneThro' the great gray slope of men,Sway'd his sabre, and held his ownLike an Englishman there and then;All in a moment follow'd with forceThree that were next in their fiery course,Wedged themselves in between horse and horse,Fought for their lives in the narrow gap they had made–Four amid thousands! and up the hill, up the hill,Gallopt the gallant three hundred, the Heavy Brigade.
III.Fell like a cannon-shot,Burst like a thunderbolt,Crash'd like a hurricane,Broke thro' the mass from below,Drove thro' the midst of the foe,Plunged up and down, to and fro,Rode flashing blow upon blow,Brave Inniskillens and GreysWhirling their sabres in circles of light!And some of us, all in amaze,Who were held for a while from the fight,And were only standing at gaze,When the dark-muffled Russian crowdFolded its wings from the left and the right,And roll'd them around like a cloud,–O mad for the charge and the battle were we, When our own good redcoats sank from sight,Like drops of blood in a dark-gray sea,And we turn'd to each other, whispering, all dismay'd,'Lost are the gallant three hundred of Scarlett's Brigade!'
IV.'Lost one and all' were the wordsMutter'd in our dismay;But they rode like Victors and LordsThro' the forest of lances and swordsIn the heart of the Russian hordes,They rode, or they stood at bay–Struck with the sword-hand and slew,Down with the bridle-hand drewThe foe from the saddle and threwUnderfoot there in the fray–Ranged like a storm or stood like a rock In the wave of a stormy day;Till suddenly shock upon shockStagger’d the mass from without,Drove it in wild disarray,For our men gallopt up with a cheer and a shout,And the foeman surged, and waver’d, and reel’dUp the hill, up the hill, up the hill, out of the field,And over the brow and away.
V.Glory to each and to all, and the charge that they made!Glory to all the three hundred, and all the Brigade!
Note.-The 'three hundred' of the 'Heavy Brigade' who made this famous charge were the Scots Greys and the 2nd squadron of Inniskillings; the remainder of the 'Heavy Brigade' subsequently dashing up to their support.
The 'three' were Scarlett's aide-de-camp, Elliot, and the trumpeter and Shegog the orderly, who had been close behind him.