Bayonet Charge

Question 1

Who wrote Bayonet Charge

Answer 1

Ted Hughes

Question 2

Ted Hughes - context

Answer 2

British poet
His poems are based on his father’s stories

Question 3

Bayonet charge quotations

Answer 3

‘Suddenly he awoke’ → flung into the action, sense of clarity / realisation

‘patriotic tear’ → feelings of pride

‘in what cold clockwork of the stars and nations was he the hand pointing that second’ → questioning fate (cold suggests unforgiving / cruel)
Comparison between man and mechanical, he looks like clockwork holding his bayonet

‘A yellow hare that rolled like flame’ - pain and suffering, impact of ear on nature
Yellow suggests his thoughts are cowardly

‘King, honour’ ‘droped like luxuries → contrasts patriotic tear, these feelings are unimportant, only survival matters

‘Terrors touchy dynamite’ → fear, jumpiness

Question 4

Bayonet charge structure

Answer 4

Stanza 1 - Intense + fast paced
Stanza 2 - slows down + tone of reflection
Stanza 3 - Pace returns, and there is horror

This is done to show the violence of war

Question 5

Bayonet Charge summary

Answer 5

A soldier is going ‘over the top’ through a field.
We get a sense of the soldiers thoughts, which turn from honour to terror as he is shocked by his experience

Question 6

Tone sin Bayonet Charge

Answer 6

Fear
Reflection
Pain
Horrir
Powerlessness