Victorians

The Charge of the Light BrigadePoembyAlfred, Lord TennysonVictorian Poet LaureateHalf 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.'Forward, the Light Brigade!'Was there a man dismay'd?Not tho' the soldiers knew  Some one had blunder'd: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.Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of them  Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of Hell  Rode the six hundred.Flash'd all their sabres bare,Flash'd as they turned in airSabring the gunners there,Charging an army while  All the world wonder'd:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro' the line they broke;Cossack and RussianReel'd from the sabre-strokeShatter'd and sunder'd.Then they rode back, but notNot the six hundred.Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind them  Volley'd and thunder'd;Storm'd at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so wellCame thro' the jaws of Death,Back from the mouth of Hell,All that was left of them,  Left of six hundred.When can their glory fade?O the wild charge they made!  All the world wonder'd.Honour the charge they made!Honour the Light Brigade,  Noble six hundred!

William Wilberforce's campaign against the slave-trade was of course slightly before the Victorian era, but worth including if not already studied, since the lifetimes of William Wilberforce and Queen Victoria overlapped, and the abolition of slavery itself didn't happen until well after Wilberforce's death.