Record Number: 21814

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'The following tribute was received [by Tennyson] from Scutari: '"We had in hospital a man of the Light Brigade, one of the few who survived that fatal mistake, the Balaclava charge [...] This patient had received a kick in the chest from a horse long after the battle of Balaclava, while in barracks at Scutari. He was depressed in spirits, which prevented him from throwing off the disease engendered by the blow. The doctor remarked that he wished the soldier could be roused. Amongst other remedies leeches were prescribed. I tried to enter into a conversation with him, spoke of the charge, but could elicit only monosyllablic replies. A copy of Tennyson's poem having been lent me that morning, I took it out and read it. The man, with kindling eye, at once entered upon a spirited description of the fatal gallop between the guns' mouths to and from that cannon-crowded height. He asked to hear it again, but, as by this time a number of convalescents were gathered around, I slipped out of the ward. The chaplain who had lent me the poem, understanding the enthusiasm with which it had been received, afterwards procured from England a number of copies for distribution. In a few days the invalid requested the doctor to discharge him for duty, being now in health; but whether the cure was effected by the leeches or the poem it is impossible to say."'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1855 and 31 Dec 1855

Country:

n/a

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Scutari
other location: Hospital

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

anon

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Unknown

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Unknown/NA

Occupation:

n/a

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

n/a

Country of Experience:

n/a

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

Wounded veteran of Balaclava charge. Other patients at hospital.

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Alfred Tennyson

Title:

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Genre:

History, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

borrowed (other)

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Source Information:

Record ID:

21814

Source:

Print

Author:

Hallam Tennyson

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1897

Vol:

1

Page:

388

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Hallam Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son, (London, 1897), 1, p. 388, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21814, accessed: 22 December 2024

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Additional Comments:

None