Bayonet Charge Flashcards
Ted Hughes
‘That dazzled…’
‘That dazzled with rifle fire, hearing
Bullets smacking the belly out of the air’
‘He lugged…’
‘He lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm.’
‘Suddenly he…’
‘Suddenly he awoke and was running- raw In raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy’
‘The patriotic tear…’
‘The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye
Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest, -‘
‘in what cold…’
‘In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations
Was he the hand pointing that second?’
‘King, honour…’
‘king, honour, human dignity, etcetera
Dropped like luxuries in a yelling alarm.’
‘Then that shot slashed…’
‘Then the shot slashed furrows
Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame’
‘To get out…’
‘To get out of that blue crackling air’
‘His terror’s…’
‘His terror’s touchy dynamite.’
