Bayonet Charge Flashcards
Who wrote Bayonet Charge
Ted Hughes
What is Bayonet Charge about
the poem focuses on a single soldier’s experience of a charge towards enemy lines, it describes his thoughts and actions as he tries to stay alive, the soldier’s overriding emotion and motivation is fear which has replaced the more patriotic ideals that he held before the violence began
What is the form of Bayonet Charge
enjambment and caesura, lines of uneven length - irregular rhythm which mirrors the soldier struggling to run through the mud, the narrator uses the pronoun ‘he’ rather than a name to keep his anonymous suggesting he has a universal figure and can represent any soldier, ‘hot khaki his sweat heavy’ - ‘h’ sound imitates his breathing
What is the structure of Bayonet Charge
starts in medias res (middle of action) and covers the soldier’s movements and thought over a short space of time, first stanza sees the soldier acting in instinct but time seems to stand still in the second stanza when the soldier begins to think about his situation, in the final stanza he gives up his thoughts and ideals and seems to have lost his humanity
What is the violent imagery of Bayonet Charge
there is some shocking imagery which brings home the sights and sound of war, this helps to convey the sense of confusion and fear, ‘bullets smacking the belly out of the air’ - sound and impact of the shots, ‘rifle numb as a smashed arm’ - simile suggest his rifle is useless and foreshadows the injuries
What is the figurative language of Bayonet Charge
the poem included powerful figurative language to emphasise the horror and physical pain of the charge and also question the point of war, ‘patriotic tear’ - his patriotism has turned to pain and fear and heroic ideals have been replaced by reality, ‘like a man who has jumped in the dark’ - simile creates an image of a blind person which suggests there is no rational reason for war, ‘rolled like a flame’ - the danger he is in
What is the natural imagery of Bayonet Charge
the repeated references to the ‘green hedge’ and the mention of a ‘field’ and ‘threshing circle’ show the natural, agricultural setting of the war, the painful image if the ‘yellow hare’ reminds the reader of how the natural world is also damaged by war, ‘crawled in a threshing circle’ -distressing image of an out of control movement, ‘yellow hare’ - natural image contrasts with the violence and terror of war
What are the feelings and attitudes of Bayonet Charge
terror - the poem challenges patriotism and shows how desperate terror becomes the overriding emotion in battle, the soldier is driven forward by fear rather than any more noble motive, confusion - the soldier is physically disorientated by the gunfire but he is also questioning what he is doing there at all
What are the themes of Bayonet Charge
effects of conflict, reality of conflict, negative emotions - fear, individual experiance
What language/techniques does Bayonet Charge have
violent imagery, figurative language, natural imagery
