"thundered" from the previous line, making the cannon fire seem like a natural force. Line 23 highlights the bravery of the Light Brigade soldiers and their horsemanship, though their skill is mentioned almost as an afterthought and is the only mention of it in the poem. This is because the poem focuses more on the soldiers' attitude than their ability. In lines 24-26, Tennyson expands the phrase used at the end of the first two stanzas: instead of the geographical "Valley of Death," he uses the metaphor "jaws of Death" and extends it with "mouth of hell." By equating death with hell and portraying both as real as an animal's attack, the poem intensifies the brutality of death on the battlefield.

Lines 27-38:
This stanza celebrates the Light Brigade's initial dominance in the battle. Charging into the enemy, they wield their sabres against foes armed with cannons and pistols, successfully breaking through the front line of defense. The pistols and rifles of that era were ineffective for the Light Brigade because reloading them involved a complex process of measuring gunpowder and pellets, an impossible task for a cavalryman. Sending a cavalry unit into a narrow valley against artillery was so clearly futile that this may be the reason behind the line "all the world wondered" in the midst of the intense battle scene, rather than the brigade's initial success. In this stanza, the Light Brigade exerts such overwhelming control that their adversaries, the Cossacks and Russians, find their defensive line "shattered and sundered" and are forced to retreat, while the six hundred cavalrymen, who have already faced down cannons and guns, continue to advance courageously.

Lines 39-49:
The first five lines of this stanza dispel any optimism the reader might have derived from the Light Brigade's early triumph. By repeating the same words from stanza 3 (with the cannon now behind them instead of ahead), the poem reinstates the same sense of hopelessness that was present before the battle commenced. The brief victory in the fourth stanza has not altered the overall outcome of the battle. When these words were first used (lines 18-22), they concluded with a statement of the soldiers' bravery and skill; this time, they end with the soldiers (referred to plainly as "heroes") being gunned down. The path the Light Brigade charged into—the jaws of death, the mouth of hell—is mentioned again as the survivors make their escape. Anthropologists and sociologists have noted that the theme of descending into hell and returning is common in the mythology of many cultures worldwide, including one of the best-known Western myths, the labors of Hercules. The survivors of this battle are thus elevated to heroic status by the poem's depiction of the valley's entrance.

Lines 50-55:
In this stanza, the poem's focus transitions from depicting the battle scene to directly engaging the reader. By using the word "wild" to describe the charge in Line 51, it suggests that reckless bravery is commendable in itself, irrespective of strategy or success. The repetition of "All the world wondered" in Line 52 emphasizes that the soldiers' actions are beyond ordinary comprehension; they follow a code that those prioritizing intellect over loyalty might not grasp. Although the poem's tone leaves little doubt about how we should feel about these cavalrymen, it does not depend on the reader's grasp of tonal nuances. Instead, it explicitly instructs the reader in lines 53 and 55 to honor these soldiers. The poem's directness indicates it was crafted for a general, often uneducated audience, celebrating the deeds of common soldiers who better understood their mission than the inept military strategists who devised the attack.