On o'er the rocky ground, Cannon on all sides round Belching forth death and wound, Madly they rode! On! like a Demon-blast, Thundering and fierce and fast, Fear to the winds they cast, Needing no goad! On! through the rocky dell! On! through the cannon's hell! On! though by heaps they fell, Dying and dead! On! with a whirlwind's leap! Down on the Russ they sweep! Madly their swords they steep Where the foe bled! On! without stop or stay, Cleaving their bloody way Through that immense array, Through to the rear! "Well done, my gallant men! "Halt, and return again. "On! and charge boldly then! "Who feels a fear?" Back! through the serried rank Closing around their flank,— Deeply their wet blades drank Bloodshed anew! Back! through that iron hail! Back! through that hollow vale! Back! through that deadly dale! Scattered and few! Long shall the memory last Of that fierce ride and fast, When through the carnage past England's brave sons. Centuries hence shall tell How, in that fatal dell, Riding to Death they fell, Heroic ones! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VERSES TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUCHESS OF YORK by JOHN DRYDEN THE GREENWOOD SHRIFT; GEORGE III AND A DYING WOMAN IN WINDSOR FOREST by ROBERT SOUTHEY THE POET'S SONG by ALFRED TENNYSON REALISM by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH AN EVENING by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM PSALM 128 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE |