"The Charge of the Light Brigade" is an original ink on panel painting by Lex Lucius that measures 60" tall by 84" wide. Interestingly, Lucius creates most of his work with a rag. Often hidden within the many layers of his paintings are symbols, words and more marks to add a conceptual element to the art. The horses Lucius paints reside at stables close to his studio in Basalt, Colorado.
"The Charge of the Light Brigade" features the words from Lex's favorite poem of the same name written repeatedly throughout the painting. Words like "honor," "valley," "hero" and "noble" are notable within the painting. "The Charge of the Light Brigade" was written in 1854, six weeks after the Battle of Balaclava of the Crimean War. The poem honors the horse soldiers sacrifice of their lives by riding into a battle that was doomed from the start.
The poem by Lord Tennyson reads:
I
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.
II
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Someone had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.
IV
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
V
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell.
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
VI
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
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Lex Lucius' work is available through our fine art galleries located in Breckenridge and Vail, Colorado.
