The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) for CISCE ICSE/ISC Class IX

About the Poet   Alfred, Lord Tennyson1809-1892

This poem was written to memorialize a suicidal charge by light cavalry over open terrain by British forces in the Battle of Balaclava (Ukraine) in the Crimean War (1854-56). 247 men of the 637 in the charge were killed or wounded. Britain entered the war, which was fought by Russia against Turkey, Britain and France, because Russia sought to control the Dardanelles. Russian control of the Dardanelles threatened British sea routes. Many in the west best know of this war today because of Florence Nightingale, who trained and led nurses aiding the wounded during the war in a manner innovative for those times. The War was also noteworthy as an early example of the work of modern war correspondents.

Memorializing Events in the Battle of Balaclava, October 25, 1854
Written 1854

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 & 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 & 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 & Russian 
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & 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; 
Storm'd at with shot and shell, 
While horse & 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. 

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!

Now We can see the summary

Summary

The poem tells the story of a brigade consisting of 600 soldiers who rode on horseback into the “valley of death” for half a league (about one and a half miles). They were obeying a command to charge the enemy forces that had been seizing their guns. Not a single soldier was discouraged or distressed by the command to charge forward, even though all the soldiers realized that their commander had made a terrible mistake: “Someone had blundered.” The role of the soldier is to obey and “not to make reply...not to reason why,” so they followed orders and rode into the “valley of death.”

The 600 soldiers were assaulted by the shots of shells of canons in front and on both sides of them. Still, they rode courageously forward toward their own deaths: “Into the jaws of Death / Into the mouth of hell / Rode the six hundred.”

The soldiers struck the enemy gunners with their unsheathed swords (“sabres bare”) and charged at the enemy army while the rest of the world looked on in wonder. They rode into the artillery smoke and broke through the enemy line, destroying their Cossack and Russian opponents. Then they rode back from the offensive, but they had lost many men so they were “not the six hundred” any more.

Canons behind and on both sides of the soldiers now assaulted them with shots and shells. As the brigade rode “back from the mouth of hell,” soldiers and horses collapsed; few remained to make the journey back.

The world marveled at the courage of the soldiers; indeed, their glory is undying: the poem states these noble 600 men remain worthy of honor and tribute today.

Line by Line Explanation

Lines 1-2

Half a league, half a league, 
Half a league onward,

• This poem starts with the same three words, "Half a league" repeated three times.
• First of all, what does that mean? Well, a league is an old way to measure distance, and it was equal to about 3 miles. So half a league is roughly a mile and a half.
• Second of all, why start a poem like this? Well, we think it sets up a nice rhythm, a kind of rolling, hypnotic sound. Maybe even a bit like a military march: Left! Left! Left, right, left!
• We also think these opening lines make the speaker of the poem sound exhausted, like he is at the end of a race, just trying to force himself through the last few laps. That mood will be really important later in the poem

Line 3

All in the valley of Death

• Now this isn't half a league on a sunny day in the park. Nope, it turns out we're traveling in "the valley of Death." Scary, huh?
• We don't know exactly what that means at this point, but it's sure meant to make us feel a little scared and uncertain.
• We're pretty sure Tennyson and his readers would also have been thinking of the famous line in Psalm 23: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death."

Line 4

Rode the six hundred.

• Tennyson is slowly introducing us to the setting and the action of the poem.
• Notice that he isn't being too specific. We already know that someone is covering a certain distance in a scary place. Now we learn that there are six hundred people, and that they are riding, probably on horseback. We mean, would you want to take your bicycle out for a spin in the valley of Death?
• We'll get more details soon, but things are already taking shape.

Line 5

"Forward, the Light Brigade!

• Now someone speaks, shouting out a military order to move forward. We don't know who this fellow is, but he introduces the heroes of this poem, the fearless men of the Light Brigade. Who are these guys?
• Well, they are a group of soldiers – a "brigade" is a way of dividing up an army.
• They are "cavalry" soldiers, meaning they are riding on horseback.
• Finally, they are called "Light" to separate them from the "Heavy Brigade," another kind of cavalry unit at the time. Make sense? We just didn't want you to think they were actually glowing or anything.
• Also, Tennyson's poem is based on real events. In 1854, there was a Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.

Line 6

Charge for the guns!" he said.

• Imagine you're a soldier in 1854. We think "charge for the guns" would probably be the last thing you'd want to hear. That sounds dangerous, right? Especially if you're on a horse. Most folks would probably rather charge away from the guns.
• Who is this guy shouting out such a crazy order? We're not quite sure, and we think Tennyson left him invisible on purpose, to keep us focused on the amazing, tough guys in the Light Brigade.

Line 7-8

Into the valley of Death 
Rode the six hundred.

• The speaker ends the first section of the poem with a little refrain, a kind of recap of what we've learned so far (in lines 3-4).
• The brigade has been ordered into the valley, and they're riding in, even though they know that guns and "Death" are waiting for them.

Line 9

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"

• The order is repeated. The speaker really wants us to focus on those words, on the command to move forward. The men are being sent to their doom.
• Again, we don't know who's giving the orders here, but this disembodied voice might make us pause and think about why these brave men are being sent into "the valley of Death."

Line 10

Was there a man dismayed?

• Now we're trying to get a peek into the heads of these soldiers, trying to imagine how it must feel to charge toward death.
• The speaker asks if any of the soldiers were "dismayed." In this case, to be dismayed means to lose your courage, to be overcome by terror or sadness. That would be a pretty normal reaction to a situation like this.

Line 11-12

Not though the soldier knew 
Someone had blundered.

• Of course the Light Brigade is too tough and loyal to feel dismayed.
• That first word, "not," implies that these men don't feel discouraged at all. They're ready to do their job, even though the order might be crazy.
• This is a really important point in this poem. The soldiers aren't dumb. They know this charge isn't a good idea, that someone has made a mistake, has "blundered."
• This is as close as the poem gets to criticizing the men who ordered this attack. The speaker is no revolutionary, but we think you can feel some anger at the commanders simmering under this poem, especially at this moment.

Lines 13-15

Theirs not to make reply, 
Theirs not to reason why, 
Theirs but to do and die.

• This is a famous group of lines, and for good reason. Do you see how they fit together, the way they share the same first word and the same rhyming sound at the end? Do you see how simple they are, too? There's no showing off, no fancy words (in fact almost all the words in these lines are one syllable).
• The speaker uses these lines to sum up all of the honest, humble heroism of these men. They're just doing their job. That job doesn't let permit them to talk back to their commanders ("make reply") or to figure out the point of the attack ("reason why"). All they can do is to ride and fight and possibly die ("do and die").

Line 16-17

Into the valley of Death 
Rode the six hundred.

• These last two lines are the same as the last two lines in the first stanza. In poetry, that's called a refrain (like the chorus in a song). It emphasizes the main action of the poem, which is these men riding to their death. It also gives a smooth, dignified rhythm to the poem.

Line 18-20

Cannon to right of them, 
Cannon to left of them, 
Cannon in front of them

• The valley of Death turns out to be just about as lousy as it sounds. The soldiers are surrounded by enemy cannon, left, right, and front. Bad news for the Light Brigade.
• Notice how Tennyson stretches this simple information out over three lines. What effect does that have?
• Well, for one thing, it echoes the three lines in the section above (13-15), which also all start with the same word.
• It also makes the feeling of being surrounded much more intense. It's almost as if we are right there, turning our heads right, left, and forward, and seeing cannon everywhere. Scary, huh?

Line 21

Volleyed and thundered;

• A little vocab here: a "volley" from a cannon is just a round of firing.
• So these huge walls of cannon all around them are firing, and making a sound like thunder.
• Want to know what cannon fire is like? Check out this YouTube video.

Line 22

Stormed at with shot and shell,

• The soldiers in the Light Brigade are being "stormed at," by gunfire, an image that picks up on the word "thundered" in the line we just read.
• The "shot" (bullets) and "shell" (big explosives fired from cannon) are a violent, noisy, destructive force that reminds the speaker of a storm.

Line 23

Boldly they rode and well,

• These guys aren't scared of some gunfire, though. In fact, they ride "boldly" (bravely) even though this is looking more and more like a suicide mission.
• The point of this poem is to show us how heroic these men were.

Line 24

Into the jaws of Death,

• Tennyson has a lot of images for this scary valley, and he brings some more of them in here. Now the valley of Death becomes the "jaws of Death."
• We'll admit it's not a super-original image, but it works well here. It's almost as if these guys were riding into the mouth of some kind of ferocious animal.

Lines 25-26

Into the mouth of hell 
Rode the six hundred.

• This is the spot (at the end of the stanza) where the refrain belongs (see lines 7-8 and 16-17), but Tennyson switches things up a bit here. Instead of "Into the valley of Death," now the men are riding "Into the mouth of hell."
• The "mouth of hell" matches up nicely with the "jaws" in the line before, and it's just one more way of emphasizing how bad the valley is and how brave these men are.
• Changing the refrain also helps to keep us on our toes a little, and keeps the poem from seeming stale or repetitive.

Line 27

Flashed all their sabres bare,

• Keep in mind that these guys weren't carrying machine guns. They were riding through this storm of bullets, on horses, carrying…swords.
• Well "sabres," to be exact. That's the kind of curved sword a cavalrymen would have carried. Here's a picture of a sabre.

Line 28

Flashed as they turned in air

• The image of these flashing swords makes us think of Medieval knights fighting.
• At this point, during the Crimean War, fighting with swords was already becoming obsolete. Can you imagine charging on horseback with a sword toward an enemy with guns and cannon? Focusing on these old-fashioned sabres is another way to point out the desperate heroism of the Light Brigade, and also a way to connect them to English warriors of the past.

Line 29

Sab'ring the gunners there,

• It turns out that the Light Brigade has some luck. They reach the guns and stab the men who are operating them.
• It's a vivid image, isn't it? You can just imagine those swords slicing, chopping, and stabbing. This is serious, brutal warfare.

Lines 30-31

Charging an army, while 
All the world wondered.

• The doomed bravery of these 600 guys "charging an army" jumps out at us again.
• The speaker imagines that "all the world wondered" at this charge. That line needs a little unpacking. In this case, to "wonder" means to be amazed by something. That means that the people who "wondered" were filled with awe as they watched the battle.
• What does the speaker mean by "all the world"? Well, Tennyson wrote this poem because he read about the battle in the newspaper. The men of the Light Brigade are world famous.
• Now it's not just the people on the battlefield who are amazed by their bravery, but "all the world."

Line 32-33

Plunged in the battery-smoke 
Right thro' the line they broke;

• The Light Brigade is still kicking butt. They move right through the smoke that's coming from the "battery" (that's a group of cannon).
• They even break through the line. That's a major moment in a battle at this time. Back in the day, soldiers would line up on a field and shoot or run or ride at each other. For an attack (a "charge") like this to succeed, the soldiers need to get through the enemy line in order to do damage. Think of this like a really brutal game of capture the flag.

Line 34-36

Cossack and Russian 
Reeled from the sabre stroke 
Shattered and sundered.

• This is actually the first time we hear about who, exactly, the Light Brigade is attacking. In these lines, they are slicing "Cossack and Russian" soldiers with their swords.
• This poem is describing the Crimean War, when Britain and its allies were fighting the Russian Empire. The Cossacks were famously fierce soldiers allied with the Russian Empire.
• The soldiers of the Light Brigade are so effective that these enemies are "shattered" and "sundered" (which means broken in two).

Line 37-38

Then they rode back, but not 
Not the six hundred.

• This is a key moment in the poem. The main action so far, the charge, has gone as far as it can. Now the soldiers have to turn back where they came from.
• Not all of them though. Some have died. The simple phrase "Not the six hundred" is our first hint of the terrible casualties the Light Brigade has suffered.
• The poem has been a little grim, but now it starts to become really mournful, like it was meant for a funeral.

Lines 39-43

Cannon to right of them, 
Cannon to left of them, 
Cannon behind them 
Volleyed and thundered; 
Stormed at with shot and shell,

• Feeling a bit of déjà vu? You should be, because these lines are almost an exact repeat of the beginning of the third stanza (lines 18-22). The only change is in line 41. The cannon that were in front of them are now behind them, which means that the Light Brigade has turned around and leaving the enemy behind them.
• The return trip is just as deadly and terrifying, it's just turned around.
• Even though he's describing really awful stuff, Tennyson still manages to give this poem a nice feeling of balance. Repetition is an important tool that helps him achieve that effect.

Line 44

While horse and hero fell.

• As we learn about the retreat from the charge, the poem emphasizes the loss of life.
• Here we get an image of horses and soldiers collapsing under the rain of gunfire.
• Notice also that this is the first time that the speaker comes out and calls these men heroes, although that's clearly been the message from the beginning.

Line 45-46

They that had fought so well 
Came through the jaws of Death,

• Now, a part of the Light Brigade returns back to safety, after having "fought so well."
• At the beginning of the poem we heard about how they were going "Into the jaws of Death" and now they are coming out again. In a way, it's almost like watching a movie played backward. They charge forward…they charge back. They run into the mouth…they run back again.
• Of course the big difference is that there are a lot fewer of them now.

Line 47-49

Back from the mouth of hell, 
All that was left of them, 
Left of six hundred.

• This stanza ends with the words "six hundred" just like all the others did.
• In this case, though, the tone is much darker, and the emphasis is on how many men have died. The speaker doesn't say how many make it to safety, but we're guessing that it's a small number.
• That's the final image we get off the battle itself, the remnants of the Light Brigade moving back across the field.

Line 50

When can their glory fade?

• Now the poem swings into high gear. We're watching Tennyson turn the soldiers of the Light Brigade into legends.
• This line – "When can their glory fade?" – bursts in like the sound of a trumpet.
• The job of this poem is to make the courage of these British soldiers immortal. You know what? So far it seems to have worked. You're reading this poem, right? Which means the bravery of the Light Brigade has been remembered for over 150 years. This is an example of poetry having a real effect on how we remember history.

Line 51-52

O the wild charge they made! 
All the world wondered.

• It is the Light Brigade's desperate, "wild" charge that the speaker wants us to remember.
• Line 52 is a repeat of line 31, and a reminder that this is a story meant to amaze the entire world. This poem is spreading the word, telling us all that we should "wonder" at this incredible display of bravery.

Lines 53-55

Honour the charge they made! 
Honour the Light Brigade, 
Noble six hundred!

• The poem ends with a couple of commands. The speaker orders us, as if he was a general, to "Honour the Light Brigade."
• This is a really public poem with a single purpose and Tennyson doesn't have time to be subtle at the end. He tells us, point blank, to respect and remember these noble war heroes.

Analysis

As the poet laureate of England, Tennyson published this heroic and rousing poem in theExaminer on December 9, 1854, to commemorate the valiant actions of the light brigade that fought this battle in the Crimean War. It is said that Tennyson read a newspaper article about the Battle of Balaclava, where the charge took place, and wrote this poem within a matter of minutes. Tennyson’s son said later that the phrase from the article “some hideous blunder” caught his imagination; in the poem Tennyson’s words are “some one had blunder’d.” The poem was also included in an 1855 publication of his works. It was tremendously popular during its day, especially as it celebrated both the military and the common man’s perspective. Another famous British poet, Rudyard Kipling, took up the same event in his work “The Last of the Light Brigade,” but focused on how poorly the soldiers were treated once they were back in England.

The poem has six stanzas of differing lengths. The meter is dactylic, meaning that one stressed syllable is succeeded by two unstressed syllables. This gives the sense of boldly galloping or thundering like a drum. The rhyme scheme is irregular. Anaphora is also used (repetition of the same word at the beginning of multiple lines), which here creates the sense of the barrage the soldiers were facing, and which in general intensifies the emotion of the scene. The rhymes also tend to intensify the emotion and suggest the inevitability of the situation rather than something like unrhymed free verse would have done, which would have evoked mere chaos.

The Crimean War was a conflict between the Russian Empire and the forces of the British Empire, French Empire, Ottoman Empire, and Kingdom of Sardinia. It spanned three years, from 1853 to 1856, and was largely concerned with the territories of the Ottoman Empire, which by this time was in decline. The famous charge of the British light cavalry took place at the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854. This brigade was supposed to pursue a Russian artillery train but, due to miscommunication, was instead sent into a frontal assault against heavily fortified Russian defenses. The British were valorous but were cut to pieces and retreated with immense casualties (some estimates say 247 of the 637 died).

The reasons for the poem’s contemporary popularity should be evident because it is such a stirring expression of courage under fire, of heroism under impossible odds, of the might of the English military. Tennyson’s images are powerful; he creates a scene of chaos and carnage with cannons thundering and shells falling. The men are stoic and unquestioning as English men are supposed to be, and they embrace their orders without offering critique or refusal. (Tennyson also captures the frustration of the blunder and the perhaps needless loss of life.) The men ride “boldly” and fight well in the hellish battle, in the “valley of Death” that is their burial ground.

Explanation of the Poem

“The Charge of the Light Brigade” recalls a disastrous historical military engagement that took place during the initial phase of the Crimean War fought between Turkey and Russia (1854-56). Under the command of Lord Raglan, British forces entered the war in September 1854 to prevent the Russians from obtaining control of the important sea routes through the Dardanelles. From the beginning, the war was plagued by a series of misunderstandings and tactical blunders, one of which serves as the subject of this poem: on October 25, 1854, as the Russians were seizing guns from British soldiers, Lord Raglan sent desperate orders to his Light Cavalry Brigade to fend off the Russians. Finally, one of his orders was acted upon, and the brigade began charging—but in the wrong direction! Over 650 men rushed forward, and well over 100 died within the next few minutes. As a result of the battle, Britain lost possession of the majority of its forward defenses and the only metaled road in the area.

In the 21st century, the British involvement in the Crimean War is dismissed as an instance of military incompetence; we remember it only for the heroism displayed in it by Florence Nightingale, the famous nurse. However, for Tennyson and most of his contemporaries, the war seemed necessary and just. He wrote this poem as a celebration of the heroic soldiers in the Light Brigade who fell in service to their commander and their cause. The poem glorifies war and courage, even in cases of complete inefficiency and waste.

Unlike the medieval and mythical subject of “The Lady of Shalott” or the deeply personal grief of “Tears, Idle Tears,” this poem instead deals with an important political development in Tennyson’s day. As such, it is part of a sequence of political and military poems that Tennyson wrote after he became Poet Laureate of England in 1850, including “Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington” (1852) and “Riflemen, Form” (1859). These poems reflect Tennyson’s emerging national consciousness and his sense of compulsion to express his political views.

This poem is effective largely because of the way it conveys the movement and sound of the charge via a strong, repetitive falling meter: “Half a league, half a league / Half a league onward.” The plodding pace of the repetitions seems to subsume all individual impulsiveness in ponderous collective action. The poem does not speak of individual troops but rather of “the six hundred” and then “all that was left of them.” Even Lord Raglan, who played such an important role in the battle, is only vaguely referred to in the line “someone had blundered.” Interestingly, Tennyson omitted this critical and somewhat subversive line in the 1855 version of this poem, but the writer John Ruskin later convinced him to restore it for the sake of the poem’s artistry. Although it underwent several revisions following its initial publication in 1854, the poem as it stands today is a moving tribute to courage and heroism in the face of devastating defeat.

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (line by Line Explanations)

A Merchant vessel of the earst century

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (line by Line Explanations)

Characters 

Shylock
A Jewish moneylender in Venice. Angered by his mistreatment at the hands of Venice’s Christians, particularly the merchant Antonio, Shylock schemes to get revenge by ruthlessly demanding a pound of Antonio’s flesh as penalty for Antonio’s defaulting on a loan. The Christian characters in the play regard Shylock as an inhuman monster, frequently mocking him for being obsessed with money. In person, however, Shylock comes across as far more than a caricature or stereotype. His resentment at his mistreatment, his anger at his daughter’s betrayal, and his eloquent expressions of rage make him a convincing, entirely human character.

Portia
A wealthy heiress from Belmont. Portia’s beauty is matched only by her intelligence. Bound by a clause in her father’s will that forces her to marry whichever suitor chooses correctly among three caskets, Portia nonetheless longs to marry her true love, Bassanio. Far and away the cleverest of the play’s characters, Portia disguises herself as a young male law clerk in an attempt to save Antonio from Shylock’s knife.

Antonio
The merchant whose love for his friend Bassanio prompts him to sign Shylock’s contract and almost lose his life. Antonio is something of a mercurial figure, often inexplicably melancholy and, as Shylock points out, possessed of an incorrigible dislike of Jews. Nonetheless, Antonio is beloved of his friends and proves merciful to Shylock, albeit with conditions.

Bassanio
A gentleman of Venice and a kinsman and dear friend to Antonio. Bassanio’s love for the wealthy Portia leads him to borrow money from Shylock with Antonio as his guarantor. An ineffectual businessman, Bassanio nonetheless proves himself a worthy suitor, correctly identifying the casket that contains Portia’s portrait.

Gratiano
A friend of Bassanio’s who accompanies him to Belmont. A coarse and garrulous young man, Gratiano is Shylock’s most vocal and insulting critic during the trial. While Bassanio courts Portia, Gratiano falls in love with and eventually weds Portia’s lady-in-waiting, Nerissa.

Jessica
Although she is Shylock’s daughter, Jessica hates life in her father’s house and elopes with the young Christian gentleman Lorenzo. Launcelot jokingly calls into question what will happen to her soul, wondering if her marriage to a Christian can overcome the fact that she was born a Jew. We may wonder if her sale of a ring given to her father by her mother isn’t excessively callous.

Lorenzo
A friend of Bassanio and Antonio. Lorenzo is in love with Shylock’s daughter, Jessica. He schemes to help Jessica escape from her father’s house and eventually elopes with her to Belmont.

Nerissa
Portia’s lady-in-waiting and confidante. Nerissa marries Gratiano and escorts Portia on Portia’s trip to Venice by disguising herself as Portia’s law clerk.

Launcelot Gobbo
Bassanio’s servant. A comical, clownish figure who is especially adept at making puns, Launcelot leaves Shylock’s service in order to work for Bassanio.

The prince of Morocco
A Moorish prince who seeks Portia’s hand in marriage. The prince of Morocco asks Portia to ignore his dark complexion and seeks to win her by picking one of the three caskets. Certain that the caskets reflect Portia’s beauty and stature, the prince of Morocco picks the gold chest.

The prince of Arragon
An arrogant Spanish nobleman who also attempts to win Portia’s hand by picking a casket. Like the prince of Morocco, however, the prince of Arragon chooses unwisely. He picks the silver casket, which gives him a message calling him an idiot rather than offering him Portia’s hand.

Salarino
A Venetian gentleman, and friend to Antonio, Bassanio, and Lorenzo. Salarino is often almost indistinguishable from his companion Solanio.

Solanio
A Venetian gentleman, and frequent counterpart to Salerio.

Salerio
A Venetian gentleman and messanger. Salerio returns with Bassanio and Gratiano for Antonio’s trial.

The Duke of Venice
The ruler of Venice, who presides over Antonio’s trial. Although he is a powerful man, the state he rules depends on respect for the law, and he is unable to bend the law to help Antonio.

Gobbo
Launcelot’s father, also a servant in Venice.

Tubal
A wealthy Jew in Venice and one of Shylock’s friends.

Doctor Bellario
A wealthy Paduan lawyer and Portia’s cousin. Although Doctor Bellario never appears in the play, he gives Portia’s servant the letters of introduction needed for Portia to make her appearance in court.

Balthazar
Portia’s servant, whom she dispatches to get the appropriate materials from Doctor Bellario.

Stephano
A messenger who works for Portia.

Leonardo
One of Bassanio’s servants.

Act 1 Scene 1

Original Shakespearian text 

Enter ANTONIO, SALARINO, and SOLANIO
ANTONIO In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. It wearies me; you say it wearies you. But how I caught it, found it, or came by it, What stuff ’tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn. And such a want-wit sadness makes of me, That I have much ado to know myself.
SALARINO Your mind is tossing on the ocean, There, where your argosies with portly sail, Like signors and rich burghers on the flood— Or, as it were, the pageants of the sea— Do overpeer the petty traffickers That curtsy to them, do them reverence As they fly by them with their woven wings.
SOLANIO Believe me, sir, had I such venture forth, The better part of my affections would Be with my hopes abroad. I should be still Plucking the grass to know where sits the wind, Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads. And every object that might make me fear Misfortune to my ventures out of doubt Would make me sad. SALARINO     My wind cooling my broth Would blow me to an ague when I thought What harm a wind too great at sea might do. I should not see the sandy hourglass run, But I should think of shallows and of flats And see my wealthy Andrew docked in sand, Vailing her high top lower than her ribs To kiss her burial. Should I go to church And see the holy edifice of stone And not bethink me straight of dangerous rocks, Which, touching but my gentle vessel’s side, Would scatter all her spices on the stream, Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks, And, in a word, but even now worth this, And now worth nothing? Shall I have the thought To think on this, and shall I lack the thought That such a thing bechanced would make me sad? But tell not me. I know Antonio Is sad to think upon his merchandise. ANTONIO Believe me, no. I thank my fortune for it— My ventures are not in one bottom trusted, Nor to one place, nor is my whole estate Upon the fortune of this present year. Therefore my merchandise makes me not sad. SOLANIO Why then, you are in love. ANTONIO     Fie, fie! SOLANIO Not in love neither? Then let us say you are sad Because you are not merry—and ’twere as easy For you to laugh and leap and say you are merry Because you are not sad. Now, by two-headed Janus, Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time. Now in plain English the explanation text  ANTONIO, SALARINO, and SOLANIO enter. ANTONIO To be honest, I don’t know why I’m so sad. I’m tired of it, and you say you’re tired of it too. But I have no idea how I got so depressed. And if I can’t figure out what’s making me depressed, I must not understand myself very well. SALARINO You’re worried about your ships. Your mind is out there getting tossed around on the ocean with them. But they’re fine. They’re like huge parade floats on the sea. They’re so big they look down on the smaller ships, which all have to bow and then get out of the way. Your ships fly like birds past those little boats. SOLANIO Yes, believe me, if I had such risky business ventures in other countries, I’d be sad too. I’d worry about it every second. I’d constantly be tossing blades of grass into the air to find out which way the wind was blowing. I’d be peering over maps to figure out the best ports, piers, and waterways. Everything that made me worry about my ships would make me sad. SALARINO I’d get scared every time I blew on my soup to cool it, thinking of how a strong wind could wipe out my ships. Every time I glanced at the sand in an hourglass I’d imagine my ships wrecked on sandbars. I’d think of dangerous rocks every time I went to church and saw the stones it was made of. If my ship brushed up against rocks like that, its whole cargo of spices would be dumped into the sea. All of its silk shipments would be sent flying into the roaring waters. In one moment I’d go bankrupt. Who wouldn’t get sad thinking about things like that? It’s obvious. Antonio is sad because he’s so worried about his cargo. ANTONIO No, that’s not it, trust me. Thankfully my financial situation is healthy. I don’t have all of my money invested in one ship, or one part of the world. If I don’t do well this year, I’ll still be okay. So it’s not my business that’s making me sad. SOLANIO Well then, you must be in love. ANTONIO Oh, give me a break. SOLANIO You’re not in love either? Fine, let’s just say you’re sad because you’re not in a good mood. You know, it’d be just as easy for you to laugh and dance around and say you’re in a good mood. You could just say you’re not sad. Humans are so different.

Notes, summary on Daffodils by WilliamWords worth for Class IX ICSE

Complete Summary of Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Here’s a brief summary of daffodils: Once the poet was wandering pointlessly beside a lake, he was all alone to wander freely akin to a patch of clouds floating in the sky, over the valleys and the hill. Suddenly he could view the large number of daffodils gathered by the side of the lake. They were sheltered under a growing tree. The Daffodils resembles the color of gold(1) (according to the poet)and the airy breeze made them wave and dance, rejoice and play. The poet however could not estimate their number as they spread along extensive sides of the lake.

(1)Daffodils is a commonly grown flower.The line: ‘A host, of golden daffodils;’ needs a special mention since it unveils the poet’s thoughts. Wordsworth associated the colour of richness: Gold; to his common flower.

They resemble akin to innumerable shining stars that one could see in the night sky in the form of Milky Way. As the poet made an instant glance, he could see myriad of daffodils waving their heads, as if they were rejoicing and dancing out of alacrity. Seeing this, the waves of the lake accompanied dancing along with these daffodils , but their lustrous dance was in no way comparable to the delight and gaiety of the flowers the poets seems to have frenzied with; an ecstasy of delight.

He realized that a poet who was susceptible to natural grace could not help but feel happy in the presence of such gay and beautiful flowers. He gazed at them, hardly knowing what enormous treasure he was accumulating in his mind.
That vista was impregnated in the poet’s mind for an everlasting time. In future, when the poet lied down on his couch, either in a lonely or a pensive mood, the entire panorama that he saw in the woods beyond the Gowbarrow Park appeared before his mind’s eye. In solitude, when his mind is unrestrained by disturbing elements of the real world, he revives the memories of the daffodils. When the memory of that sight comes into view of the poet, he was able to derive ecstatic pleasure which he had enjoyed actually.

Analysis of Daffodils by William Wordsworth:

I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills / For oft, when on my couch I lie, in vacant…..with pleasures fills. In the starting of the poem, the poet was floating high but was morally low. As we come to the end of the poem, the poet, in spite being on the couch (low) was morally high.

Mood of the Poem Daffodils:

The poem goes through a gradual shift..from wandered lonely (line 1) to but be gay (line 15) and pleasures fill (line 23). This in actual reflects Wordsworth’s life. The feeling of loneliness was marked by the death of his brother John. Dorothy had been a great sister to Wordsworth and also Wordsworth got married in the same year 1802 (his second marriage). These life events were actually responsible for Wordsworth’s actually happiness in his life and thus correlates with Daffodils.

Wordsworth’s Style:

Daffodils analysis will be incomplete without illustrating the tone of the poem. This poem is typically Wordsworthian. Its portray Nature at its best and encompasses her grace to the pinnacle which every poets cannot reach. It projects Wordsworth’s extraordinary delight in understanding and exploring common place things (key point). Emotions recollected in tranquility are the distinct factor which differentiates Wordsworth from other poets. The emotions associated with Wordsworth in this poem, Daffodils is not ephemeral but rather permanent and everlasting. The poet derives the same bliss from his thoughts about the daffodil when he actually saw them.

They flashed upon the inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude:
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dance with the daffodils.

About Wordsworth:

Wordsworth stands supreme as a nature poet. Born at Cockermouth in the year 1770, he spent his childhood amidst nature. He was sent to St. John’s College, Cambridge, 1787. After his return from France he stayed with his sister and Coleridge. He got married in 1802.

STANZA 1 SUMMARY

Lines 1-2

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and Hills,

• The speaker describes how he walked around and felt as lonely as a cloud. He doesn’t say, "walked around," but uses the much more descriptive word "wandered."
• "Wandered" means roaming around without a purpose, like when you explore something. So it’s not necessarily a bad thing. But in its metaphorical use, "wandered" can mean feeling purposeless and directionless in general. As in, you have questions like, "What’s the meaning of my life?"
• The first concept that we want to take a look at is that the cloud is "lonely." Asking questions about what this means will help us get into the poem.
• Are clouds lonely? Well, maybe the ones that float about valleys ("vales") and hills are lonely. It's more likely, the speaker is projecting his own loneliness on the clouds. But that still doesn’t explain the strange image, because clouds usually travel in groups. (Except in cartoons where you can have a single rain cloud following Wiley E. Coyote around just to ruin his day.)
• Maybe a cloud is lonely because it is so far above the rest of the world. Its thoughts are just so "lofty," and maybe the speaker’s thoughts are, too.
• Also, the cloud could be lonely because it floats over a natural landscape with no people in it. Maybe the speaker has thought of hills and valleys because he happens to be "wandering" through such a landscape.
• These are some of the questions we’re hoping the poem will help us sort out after this mysterious beginning.

Lines 3-4

When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;

• Suddenly ("all at once"), the speaker sees a group of daffodil flowers. We tend to think of daffodils as "yellow," but he uses the more majestic-sounding "golden."
• He calls them a "crowd," so they must be packed tightly together. Then he elaborates on "crowd" by adding the noun "host." A host is just a big group.
• Yes, "host" and "crowd" mean pretty much the same thing. Ah, but that’s where the connotations come in, those vague associations that attach to certain words. A "crowd" is associated with groups of people, while "host" is associated with angels, because people often refer to a "host of angels." Coupled with the description of their angelic "golden" color, we seem to be dealing with some very special daffodils.

Lines 5-6

Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

• He sees the daffodils beside a lake and underneath some trees. It’s a breezy day, and the flowers "flutter" and "dance" on their stems.
• Maybe now is a good time to step outside the poem for just a second to note that Wordsworth lived in a part of England known as the Lake District, which is filled with lots of hills, valleys and, of course, lakes. We can assume he’s walking in a fairly remote and wild part of the countryside.
• Now, back to the poem. "Fluttering" suggests flight, which could bring us back to the angels or even birds or butterflies. "Dancing" is something that usually only humans do. The daffodils are given the qualities of humans and also of some kind of otherworldly creatures, perhaps.

STANZA 2 SUMMARY

Lines 7-8

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,

• The emphasizes the point that there are a whole lot of daffodils. More daffodils than he has probably ever seen before. After all, these are flowers that usually grow in scattered groups in the wild or in people’s well-tended gardens.
• The flowers stretch "continuously," without a break, like the stars in the Milky Way galaxy, each one gleaming like a star.
• The comparison to stars provides new evidence that the speaker is trying to make us think of angels or other heavenly beings.

Lines 9-10

They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:

• Like the Milky Way galaxy, the flowers are roughly concentrated in a line that seems to stretch as far as the eye can see ("never-ending"). They flowers line the shore ("margin") of a bay of the lake, which must be a relatively large lake.
• If you’ve ever seen the Milky Way (or the photo in the link above), you know that the galaxy appears to be a band that has more stars and a brighter appearance than the night sky around it. It’s not a perfectly clear line, but more like a fuzzy approximation of a line. We imagine the same effect with the flowers. It’s not as if there are no flowers outside the shore of the lake, but most are concentrated on the shore.

Lines 11-12

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

• The speaker takes in "ten thousand" dancing flowers at once. That’s a lot of daffodils.
• Wow, he’s fast at counting if he knows the number after only a quick glance. But, of course, the speaker is not actually counting, but just guessing. (It's like when you try to guess the number of gumballs in a jar.)
• The flowers "toss their hands" while dancing to the wind. By "heads" we think he means the part of the flower with the petals, the weight of which causes the rest of the flower to bob.
• "Sprightly" means happily or merrily. The word derives from "sprite," which refers to the playful little spirits that people once thought inhabited nature. "Sprites" are supernatural beings, almost like fairies

STANZA 3 SUMMARY

Lines 13-14

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

• The waves also dance in the breeze, but the daffodils seem happier than the waves. We know from Dorothy Wordsworth’s journal (see "In a Nutshell") that the day that inspired this poem was a stormy one, so the waves on this medium-to-large sized lake must have been larger than usual. Maybe they were even cresting into whitecaps.
• The point is that the entire scene has suddenly been invested with a joyful human-like presence. Since waves do not bring as much joy as the yellow flowers, the flowers "out-did" the water with their happiness.
• The waves "sparkle," which creates yet another association with the stars. Everything seems to be gleaming and twinkling and shining and sparkling.

Lines 15-16

A Poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:

• The speaker reenters the poem. (We’ve haven’t seen you since the first line, buddy.) Except he refers to himself in the first person, by his vocation, "a poet."
• Despite his earlier loneliness, the speaker now can’t help but feel happy, or "gay," with such a beautiful vision to look at.
• Or, as he puts at, with such joyful and carefree ("jocund") "company" to hang out with. The flowers and waves feel like companions to him. They are all pals. Group hug!

Lines 17-18

I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

• The repetition of "gaze" tells us that he kept looking at the flowers for a long time. It's as if the speaker enjoys looking at these daffodils at the time, but doesn’t realize exactly how great of a gift he has just received with this vision.
• Apparently, the speaker doesn't think that he fully appreciated the vision at the time. This is a bit odd, because he seems to be really enjoying those daffodils.
• The word "wealth" expresses a more permanent kind of happiness. It also carries a hint of money that does not quite fit with the supernatural language that has come before.

STANZA 4 SUMMARY

Lines 19-20

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,

• Now the speaker explains why the daffodils were such a great gift to him. He moves suddenly into the future, back from the lake and the windy day. He’s describing a habitual action, something he does often.
• First, he sets the scene: he often sits on his couch, kind of feeling blah about life, with no great thoughts and sights. Sometimes his mind is empty and "vacant," like a bored teenager sitting on the sofa after school and trying to decide what to do. At other times he feels "pensive," which means he thinks kind-of-sad thoughts. You can’t be both "vacant" and "pensive" because one means "not thinking," and the other means "thinking while feeling blue." But he groups the two experiences together because both are vaguely unpleasant and dissatisfying.

Lines 21-22

They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

• So, often when our speaker gets in these downer moods, the image of the daffodils "flashes" through his mind.
• The "inward eye" expresses what Wordsworth felt to be a deeper, truer spiritual vision. A person cannot share his or her own spiritual vision completely with others, and so it is a form of "solitude." But its truth and beauty make it "blissful."
• Why does the speaker think of daffodils in exactly these moments? Maybe it's because the contrast between their joy and his unhappiness is so striking. Nonetheless, the vision is spontaneous, like a crack of lightning.

Lines 23-24

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils

• When the memory of the flowers and the lake flashes into his head, he feels happy again. It’s almost like the same experience he had while "wandering" through nature at the beginning of the poem, when the real daffodils pushed the loneliness out of his head.
• The memory of the daffodils is as good as the real thing.
• His heart is set to dancing, just like the flowers. He dances along "with" them – they are his cheerful companions once again.