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Coloraday Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

The Charge of the Light Brigade2

((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.

I know that the colored parts mean "They shouldn't make reply or reason why."
But what construction are they?

Thanks
  

Top answer

coloraday Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Their [job is] not to make reply.

— Avangi

  • coloraday Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die.
  • Their [job is] not to make reply.
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4 Answers
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coloradayTheirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die. Their [job is] not to make reply.

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Thanks
I know it refers to their job. 

But wasn't it a structure in past to say such things?
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Ah. I thought by "structure" you were asking about the syntax of the sentence. The verb in each of these three phrases is obviously omitted, and I thought that perhaps by inserting "job is," it would clarify the "structure" of the sentence. This sort of omission is not unusal in poetry, and probably more common in the past, if that's what you meant to suggest. I don't know of any name for thi
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