THE LIGHT BRIGADE.

Hail comrades of the fearful fight

On Balaklava's bloody day!

With solemn, but with proud delight,

We meet in memory of that fray;

A bitter fray it was to all

Who in our "Charge" the hero play'd;

And foes and friends it did appal.

Yet crowned with fame "the Light Brigade_,"

Who shall forget the cannons' roar -

The clash - the shout - the wild melee -

The sad retreat - when we no more

'Gainst frightful odds could aught essay?

While War continues to enlarge,

And History's sanguine page degrade,

Will live "The Balaklava Charge_,"

And England's glorious "Light Brigade"

Few answered to the muster call

When the disastrous fight was done;

Marvel not, then, our muster's small,

When one-and-twenty years have gone!

Still, while of "the Six Hundred" yet_

But one is left on life's parade,

He never - never will forget

His comrades of "the Light Brigade_."

Then charge your glasses ! Comrades, fill ! -

When duty calls, we must obey:

Honour each soldier's breast should thrill,

And death be powerless to dismay!

Long may our Navy be supreme -

Nothing our Army e'er degrade;

And "THE SIX HUNDRED" be the theme

To cheer some future "LIGHT BRIGADE!"

[Source: Nunnerley, James lkin (Corporal), Short Sketch Of The 17th Lancers And Life Of Sergeant-Major J. I. Nunnerley, privately printed, Liverpool, 1884.]