The Defence of Lucknow Summary Line by Line Explanation

The Defence of Lucknow Summary Line by Line

The Defence of Lucknow Summary Line by Line The Siege of Lucknow is one of the most significant events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The event was a struggle between the British East India Company and the Indian soldiers and civilians who rebelled against their rule. The Siege of Lucknow began on June 30, 1857, and ended on November 27, 1857. The British forces were led by Sir Henry Havelock and Sir Colin Campbell, while the Indian forces were led by the last Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah, and Begum Hazrat Mahal. The Siege of Lucknow has been immortalized in history, and it is considered one of the most significant events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

About Author Alfred Tennyson

Alfred Tennyson was a Victorian-era poet who was widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of his time. His works, which included some of the most famous poems in the English language, continue to be studied and enjoyed by people around the world today. In this article, we will explore the life and legacy of Alfred Tennyson, including his early years, his rise to fame as a poet, and his lasting impact on English literature.

Early Life and Education

Alfred Tennyson was born on August 6, 1809, in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England. He was the fourth of twelve children and the son of a clergyman. Tennyson began writing poetry at a young age and was encouraged in his literary pursuits by his family. He attended Cambridge University, where he published his first collection of poetry, "Poems, Chiefly Lyrical," in 1830.

Tennyson's literary career took off in the 1830s and 1840s, during which time he published some of his most famous works, including "The Lady of Shalott," "The Charge of the Light Brigade," and "Ulysses." These poems, which are now considered classics of English literature, showcased Tennyson's talent for lyrical verse, his mastery of the English language, and his ability to evoke powerful emotions in his readers.

The Defence of Lucknow Summary Line by Line Tennyson's popularity as a poet continued to grow throughout the latter half of the 19th century, and he was eventually appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom in 1850, a position he held until his death in 1892.

Alfred Tennyson's impact on English literature cannot be overstated. He was widely regarded as one of the greatest poets of his time, and his works continue to be studied and admired by scholars and readers around the world today. Tennyson's poetry was known for its beautiful language, vivid imagery, and its ability to evoke powerful emotions in its readers.

Tennyson's influence on other writers was also significant. His poetry inspired many other writers of his time and beyond, including Robert Browning and W.B. Yeats. His work also had a profound impact on the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which sought to bring art and literature back to a simpler, more honest style.

 

Introduction

The Siege of Lucknow is a historical event that took place during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The event was a struggle between the British East India Company and the Indian soldiers and civilians who rebelled against their rule. The Siege of Lucknow began on June 30, 1857, and ended on November 27, 1857. The Siege of Lucknow has been immortalized in history, and it is considered one of the most significant events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Background of the Siege of Lucknow

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a rebellion against the rule of the British East India Company. The rebellion began on May 10, 1857, in the town of Meerut, and quickly spread to other parts of India. The Defence of Lucknow Summary Line by Line , The rebellion was led by Indian soldiers who were dissatisfied with the British rule and their treatment by the British. The British East India Company had been ruling India for over 100 years, and the Indian soldiers and civilians were unhappy with their rule.

The Siege of Lucknow was one of the most significant events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The Siege began on June 30, 1857, when Indian soldiers rebelled against their British commanders in the city of Lucknow. The Indian soldiers were led by Begum Hazrat Mahal, who was the wife of the last Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah. The British forces were led by Sir Henry Havelock.

First Day of the Siege

The Siege of Lucknow began on June 30, 1857, when Indian soldiers rebelled against their British commanders in the city of Lucknow. The Indian soldiers were led by Begum Hazrat Mahal, who was the wife of the last Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah. The British forces were led by Sir Henry Havelock. The first day of the Siege was marked by intense fighting between the Indian soldiers and the British forces.

Second Day of the Siege

The second day of the Siege of Lucknow was marked by heavy fighting between the Indian soldiers and the British forces. The Indian soldiers were determined to hold their ground and were well-prepared for the battle. The British forces, on the other hand, were taken by surprise by the intensity of the Indian soldiers' attack.

Third Day of the Siege

The third day of the Siege of Lucknow saw the Indian soldiers gaining ground against the British forces. The Indian soldiers were determined to hold their ground and were well-prepared for the battle. The British forces, on the other hand, were struggling to keep up with the intensity of the Indian soldiers' attack.

Fourth Day of the Siege

The fourth day of the Siege of Lucknow saw the Indian soldiers gaining ground against the British forces. The Indian soldiers were determined to hold their ground and were well-prepared for the battle. The British forces, on the other hand were running out of supplies and were facing a shortage of food and ammunition. Despite this, the British forces continued to fight back and defend their position.

Fifth Day of the Siege

The fifth day of the Siege of Lucknow saw the Indian soldiers launching a fierce attack on the British forces. The Indian soldiers had received reinforcements, and they used this to their advantage to push the British forces back. The British forces were struggling to hold their position, and they were running low on ammunition and supplies.

Sixth Day of the Siege

The sixth day of the Siege of Lucknow saw the British forces launching a counter-attack on the Indian soldiers. The British forces had received reinforcements, and they used this to their advantage to push the Indian soldiers back. The Indian soldiers were running low on ammunition and supplies, and they were struggling to hold their position.

Seventh Day of the Siege

The seventh day of the Siege of Lucknow saw the Indian soldiers launching another fierce attack on the British forces.The Defence of Lucknow Summary Line by Line, The Indian soldiers were determined to break through the British lines, and they used all their resources to achieve this. The British forces were struggling to hold their position, and they were running low on ammunition and supplies.

Eighth Day of the Siege

The eighth day of the Siege of Lucknow saw the Indian soldiers launching their final attack on the British forces. The Indian soldiers were determined to break through the British lines, and they used all their resources to achieve this. The British forces were running low on ammunition and supplies, and they were struggling to hold their position. Despite their best efforts, the British forces were eventually forced to surrender to the Indian soldiers.

Aftermath of the Siege

The Siege of Lucknow was a significant event in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The event saw the Indian soldiers and civilians rise up against the British East India Company's rule. The Siege lasted for almost five months, and it resulted in the deaths of many Indian soldiers and civilians. The British forces eventually surrendered to the Indian soldiers, and this marked a turning point in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

Text

I.

BANNER of England, not for a season, O banner of Britain, hast thou

Floated in conquering battle or flapt to the battle-cry!

Never with mightier glory than when we had reared thee on high

Flying at top of the roofs in the ghastly siege of Lucknow—

Shot through the staff or the halyard, but ever we raised thee anew,

And ever upon the topmost roof our banner of England blew.

II.

Frail were the works that defended the hold that we held with our lives—

Women and children among us, God help them, our children and wives!

Hold it we might—and for fifteen days or for twenty at most.

‘Never surrender, I charge you, but every man die at his post!’

Voice of the dead whom we loved, our Lawrence the best of the brave:

Cold were his brows when we kissed him—we laid him that night in his grave.

‘Every man die at his post!’ and there hailed on our houses and halls

Death from their rifle-bullets, and death from their cannon-balls,

Death in our innermost chamber, and death at our slight barricade,

Death while we stood with the musket, and death while we stoop to the spade,

Death to the dying, and wounds to the wounded, for often there fell,

Striking the hospital wall, crashing thro’ it, their shot and their shell,

Death—for their spies were among us, their marksmen were told of our best,

So that the brute bullet broke thro’ the brain that could think for the rest;

Bullets would sing by our foreheads, and bullets would rain at our feet—

Fire from ten thousand at once of the rebels that girdled us round—

Death at the glimpse of a finger from over the breadth of a street,

Death from the heights of the mosque and the palace, and death in the ground!

Mine? yes, a mine! Countermine! down, down! and creep thro’ the hole!

Keep the revolver in hand! you can hear him—the murderous mole!

Quiet, ah! quiet—wait till the point of the pickaxe be through!

Click with the pick, coming nearer and nearer again than before—

Now let it speak, and you fire, and the dark pioneer is no more;

And ever upon the topmost roof our banner of England blew!

III.

Ay, but the foe sprung his mine many times, and it chanced on a day

Soon as the blast of that underground thunderclap echoed away,

Dark through the smoke and the sulphur like so many fiends in their hell—

Cannon-shot, musket-shot, volley on volley, and yell upon yell—

Fiercely on all the defences our myriad enemy fell.

What have they done? where is it? Out yonder. Guard the Redan!

Storm at the Water-gate! storm at the Bailey-gate! storm, and it ran

Surging and swaying all round us, as ocean on every side

Plunges and heaves at a bank that is daily devoured by the tide—

So many thousands that if they be bold enough, who shall escape?

Kill or be killed, live or die, they shall know we are soldiers and men!

Ready! take aim at their leaders—their masses are gapp’d with our grape—

Backward they reel like the wave, like the wave flinging forward again,

Flying and foiled at the last by the handful they could not subdue;

And ever upon the topmost roof our banner of England blew.

IV.

Handful of men as we were, we were English in heart and in limb,

Strong with the strength of the race to command, to obey, to endure,

Each of us fought as if hope for the garrison hung but on him;

Still—could we watch at all points? we were every day fewer and fewer.

There was a whisper among us, but only a whisper that past:

‘Children and wives—if the tigers leap into the fold unawares—

Every man die at his post—and the foe may outlive us at last—

Better to fall by the hands that they love, than to fall into theirs!’

Roar upon roar in a moment two mines by the enemy sprung

Clove into perilous chasms our walls and our poor palisades.

Rifleman, true is your heart, but be sure that your hand is as true!

Sharp is the fire of assault, better aimed are your flank fusillades—

Twice do we hurl them to earth from the ladders to which they had clung,

Twice from the ditch where they shelter we drive them with hand-grenades;

And ever upon the topmost roof our banner of England blew.

V.

Then on another wild morning another wild earthquake out-tore

Clean from our lines of defence ten or twelve good paces or more.

Riflemen, high on the roof, hidden there from the light of the sun—

One has leapt up on the breach, crying out: ‘Follow me, follow me!’—

Mark him—he falls! then another, and him too, and down goes he.

Had they been bold enough then, who can tell but the traitors had won?

Boardings and rafters and doors—an embrasure! make way for the gun!

Now double-charge it with grape! It is charged and we fire, and they run.

Praise to our Indian brothers, and let the dark face have his due!

Thanks to the kindly dark faces who fought with us, faithful and few,

Fought with the bravest among us, and drove them, and smote them, and slew,

That ever upon the topmost roof our banner in India blew.

VI.

Men will forget what we suffer and not what we do. We can fight!

But to be soldier all day and be sentinel all through the night—

Ever the mine and assault, our sallies, their lying alarms,

Bugles and drums in the darkness, and shoutings and soundings to arms,

Ever the labour of fifty that had to be done by five,

Ever the marvel among us that one should be left alive,

Ever the day with its traitorous death from the loopholes around,

Ever the night with its coffinless corpse to be laid in the ground,

Heat like the mouth of a hell, or a deluge of cataract skies,

Stench of old offal decaying, and infinite torment of flies,

Thoughts of the breezes of May blowing over an English field,

Cholera, scurvy, and fever, the wound that would not be healed,

Lopping away of the limb by the pitiful—pitiless knife,—

Torture and trouble in vain,—for it never could save us a life.

Valour of delicate women who tended the hospital bed,

Horror of women in travail among the dying and dead,

Grief for our perishing children, and never a moment for grief,

Toil and ineffable weariness, faltering hopes of relief,

Havelock baffled, or beaten, or butchered for all that we knew—

Then day and night, day and night, coming down on the still-shattered walls

Millions of musket-bullets, and thousands of cannon-balls—

But ever upon the topmost roof our banner of England blew.

VII.

Hark cannonade, fusillade! is it true what was told by the scout,

Outram and Havelock breaking their way through the fell mutineers?

Surely the pibroch of Europe is ringing again in our ears!

All on a sudden the garrison utter a jubilant shout,

Havelock’s glorious Highlanders answer with conquering cheers,

Sick from the hospital echo them, women and children come out,

Blessing the wholesome white faces of Havelock’s good fusileers,

Kissing the war-hardened hand of the Highlander wet with their tears!

Dance to the pibroch!—saved!—we are saved!—is it you? is it you?

Saved by the valour of Havelock, saved by the blessing of Heaven!

‘Hold it for fifteen days!’ we have held it for eighty-seven!

And ever aloft on the palace roof the old banner of England blew.

Conclusion

The Siege of Lucknow was a significant event in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The event saw the Indian soldiers and civilians rise up against the British East India Company's rule. The Siege lasted for almost five months, and it resulted in the deaths of many Indian soldiers and civilians. The Siege of Lucknow has been immortalized in history, and it is considered one of the most significant events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

FAQs

Why did the Indian soldiers rebel against the British East India Company in 1857?

The Indian soldiers were dissatisfied with the British rule and their treatment by the British.

Who led the Indian soldiers during the Siege of Lucknow?

The Indian soldiers were led by Begum Hazrat Mahal, who was the wife of the last Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah.

 

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