Bayonet Charge Flashcards
“Suddenly he awoke”
Media res , creates a foreboding atmosphere and thrusts the listener into action
Repetition of “raw”
Use of repetition creates a sense of desperation.Repetition is also reminisicent of stuttering as if the soldier is breaking down to the stress / anxiety.
Raw also conveys the soldiers intense suffering.
Connotations of “raw” are animalistic which denotes to a lack of humanity
“His sweat heavy”
Metaphor shows the physical impact of the soldier’s fear.
“Bullets smacking the belly “
Metaphor creates a violent tense atmoaphere and alludes to someone not being able to breath.
“He lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm”
Simile portarys soldiers as unprepared for war.Implies soldiers feel disconnected to their weapons and uncomfortable holding it, showing his physical vulnerability for his role.Suggets how unnatural it was for soldiers to commit violence.The asonance also gives an impression of heaviness.
“Cold coldwork of the stars and nations”
Allitertion reinforces cold, mechanical nature of war.
Consonance also suggets war turns people into weapons / tools to be used
“Sweating like molten iron”
Simile suggets soldier is not prepared to for war as he is nervous and sweating.
“King, honour, human dignity, etcetera”
Asyndetix listing.Values are abandoned when reality of war is revealed
“A patriotic tear”
Challenges leaders.Symbol of regret .Propaganda was flase.He was lied too.Soldier in realisation his ideals have been disproven
Semantic field of body parts
Dehumanises soldiers.Allows Hughes to suggest humans are used as weapons of war.
Use of caesuras in Bayonet Charge
Makes soldiers consider the philosophical meaning of war.Pase of poem is paused.
Implying time has stopped or the soldiers are too overwhelmed that they are forced too pause.Effects the reader to also xonsider the reality of war.
Use of enjambment
Creates an irregular rhythm mirriors the soldiers struggling through the mud.Helps reader emphasise with the soldier as he is feeling panic and fear.
“Its mouth wide
Open silent, its eyes standing out
Hughes uses the hare to suggest that war is unnatural and manmade.
Hughes employs a chaotic structure to mirror
The chaos and panic of war.
The powm is written in
Third person singular which gives a limited narrative perspective.
Allows reader to focus on the individual impact of war.
