Balaclava

Six hundred stalwart warriors, of England’s pride the best,
Did grasp the lance and sabre on Balaclava’s crest;
And with their trusty leader, Earl Cardigan the brave,
Dashed through the Russian valley to glory or a grave.

Oh ‘tis a famous story, proclaim it far and wide,
And let your childrens’ children re-echo it with pride,
Of Cardigan the fearless, his name immortal made,
When he crossed that Russian Valley with his famous Light Brigade.

Their foemen stood in thousands, a dark and awful mass,
Beneath their famous strongholds resolved to guard the pass,
Their guns with fierce defiance belched thunders up the vale,
Where sat our English horsemen firm beneath their iron gale.

Chorus

When Nolan brought the order, "Pray God can it be true",
Cried Cardigan the fearless, "and my Brigade so few;
To take these awful cannon from yonder teeming mass;
‘Tis madness, Sir, where shall we charge? what guns bring from the pass?"

Chorus

And they were but six hundred, 'gainst two score thousand foes,
Hemmed in with furious cannon, and crushed with savage blows,
Yet fought they there like heroes, for our Noble England’s fame,
Oh glorious charge! heroic deed! what glory crowns thy name.

Chorus

Four hundred of those soldiers fell, fighting where they stood,
And thus that fatal death vale they enriched with English blood;
Four hundred of those soldiers bequeathed their lives away,
For the England they had fought for on that wild October day.

Chorus

Score
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