How does Tennyson portray the chaotic nature of war in the poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’?

Tennyson portrays chaos through an amalgamation of techniques. Upon initial observation of the poem, the uniform stanzas separated into numbered sections may lead one to believe that war is ordered, however the content rebels against this notion. It presents the truth of the chaotic nature of war despite misleading first impressions that it has some structure. The lack of a strict rhyme scheme alludes to the lack of harmony and disorder in war. However, the use of rhyming couplets and triplets at sporadic points, such as ‘reply’, ‘why’ and ‘die’, reflect the energy and directness of bullets being fired. The noise of the battlefield is further replicated through onomatopoeic verbs such as ‘volley’d and thunder’d’. Vicious sibilance in ‘sabre-stroke/ Shattered and sunder’d’, creates a vivid and hellish sound through the uncomfortable alliterative ‘s’. These techniques combine to increase the momentum of the poem and the energy that propels the reader forward, ending in the final impassioned exclamation ‘Noble six hundred!’ Hence the cumulative effect of alliteration, exclamation, onomatopoeia, sibilance and rhyme creates a sense of the chaos of war.