Maud, and Other Poems · Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Chapter 7: Will

1.O well for him whose will is strong!He suffers, but he will not suffer long;He suffers, but he cannot suffer wrong:For him nor moves the loud world's random mock,Nor all Calamity's hugest waves confound,Who seems a promontory of rock,That, compass'd round with turbulent sound,In middle ocean meets the surging shock,Tempest-buffeted, citadel-crown'd.

2.But ill for him who, bettering not with time,Corrupts the strength of heaven-descended Will,And ever weaker grows thro' acted crime,Or seeming-genial venial fault,Recurring and suggesting still!He seems as one whose footsteps halt,Toiling in immeasurable sand,And o'er a weary sultry land,Far beneath a blazing vault,Sown in a wrinkle of the monstrous hill,The city sparkles like a grain of salt.

THECHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

1.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 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.

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-smokeRight thro' the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReel'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 wellCame thro' the jaws of DeathBack 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 wonder'd.Honour the charge they made!Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!

BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.

The end.