Bayonet Charge by Ted Hughes Flashcards
1
Q
Themes in Bayonet Charge
A
2
Q
Form and Structure in Bayonet Charge:
A
- The poem begins in “media-res”
- Bayonet Charge by Ted Hughes is written in the 3rd person
- Lines are uneven and sporadic, using enjambement and caesura
- The poem has an irregular rhythm, reflecting panic or struggle
- Initial feelings of pride at the start of the poem soon to turn to fear
- The second stanza details confusion
- The final stanza explores a lack of focus
3
Q
Context in Bayonet Charge:
A
- Ted Hughes’ Bayonet Charge was written and published in 1957
- The poem focuses on WWI
- Ted Hughes was born in 1930 and died in 1998
- He was Poet Laureate in 1984
- Hughes’ father had served in WWI
- Hughes wanted to highlight the brutality of trench warfare as a tribute to his father’s suffering as well as a way to memorialize war as a warning for future generations
4
Q
“Suddenly he awoke”
A
- Fast paced start - as if he is in a confused or vulnerable state.
- Event seems like a nightmare but this confirms it is real.
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5
Q
“In raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy”
A
- Alliteration of R and H sounds gives sense of hard work heavy breathing.
6
Q
“Bullets smacking the belly out of the air”
A
- Personified bullets and semantic body parts with ‘belly’ and ‘smashed arm’ blurs the line between weapon and man by dehumanising the soldier and personifying the weapons.
- Violent imagery and onomatopoeia.
- Describes the sound and impact of the shots.
7
Q
“A rifle as numb as a smashed arm”
A
- Simile
- Suggests his weapon is useless and fore-shadows the injuries he is likely to get.
8
Q
“In what cold clockwork of the stars and nations”
A
- Clockwork - A metaphor for his actions as being more
like a clockwork machine than human. - Trivialises war to a game of toy clockwork soldiers between nations.
- Soldiers insignificance and lack of control.
- “cold’ implies people in charge of the war don’t care about individual soldiers.
- Alliteration of “c” emphasises the brutal impact on the soldiers caused by the institutions.
9
Q
“His terror’s touchy dynamite.”
A
- The use of dental alliteration shows the authority of the institutions which contrasts to the vulnerablility of the soldiers.
- Soldiers seem to have become a weapon rather than a human being.
- Purely driven by his terror.
- Metaphor emphasises adrenaline rush and almost animal like reactions