Bayonet Charge key quotes Flashcards
(7 cards)
” Suddenly he awoke and was running “
Fast paced start - as if he is in a confused or vulnerable state.
- Event seems like a nightmare but this confirms it is real.
establishes the tone and sets the reader up to experience the chaos of war
The line opens the poem in medias res, or in the middle of the action, without warning the reader of the fighting to come. This mirrors the shock soldiers would have felt going into battle
” raw - ENJABMENT
In raw-seamed hot khaki, “
The word ‘raw’ is used in several senses. The soldier was a new recruit and therefore ‘raw’ means inexperienced. Raw could also represent his raw emotions - his vulnerability and fear. “Raw-seamed” implies that his uniform was new and uncomfortable, the fabric too hot for the summer weather, so that he felt weighed-down by sweat and unfamiliar (and no doubt, ill-fitting) clothes.
“That dazzled with rifle fire, hearing ( enjambment)
Bullets smacking the belly out the air”
- Creates a positive correlation ( Poet Laurette) = indoctrination
This line uses personification to describe the large number of bullets being fired at the soldier. It could also be interpreted metaphorically to suggest that nature is a victim of human conflict.
That dazzled with rifle fire, hearing The synaesthesia of ‘dazzled’ conveys a disorientating visual effect of rifle fire on the infantryman. Bullets smacking the belly out of the air – onomatopoeia used to alarming effect. The air is personified, losing its breath to violent assault.
” His foot hung like statuary in mid-stride “
The speaker does not say that the soldier deliberately stopped running. Rather, it was as if his feet simply stopped moving apart from his own mind.
Realization
The simile suggests that the soldier has had a moment of realization about the reality of war.
Confusion
The soldier is confused and questioning his role in the conflict. He wonders what forces are governing his actions, and if he is nothing more than a puppet
“Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame”
conveys the hare’s frantic movement and the soldier’s questioning of his role in the war
The violent connotations of “threw up” contrast with the innocence of the hare, suggesting that the soldier has abandoned his previous values and motivation to fight.
Hare as a metaphor
The hare is a metaphor for the devastating impact of war on the natural world and the horror of death on the battlefield.
Hare’s suffering
The hare’s suffering is the only explicit sign of violence in the poem, highlighting the injustice of war.
Form and structure
No clear rhyme scheme
The poem doesn’t have a clear rhyme scheme, which reflects the chaos and disorder of the scene.
Third person
The poem is written in the third person, which presents the soldier as a universal figure.
Enjambement
3 Stanzas = 1 fear panic, 2 confusion, questioning gov and role 3 = realising reality of war
Background of writer
Edward James Hughes OM OBE FRSL was an English poet, translator, and children’s writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1984 and held the office until his death.
Ted Hughes wrote Bayonet Charge to memorialize the brutality of World War I and to pay tribute to his father’s suffering. The poem was published in 1957 in Hughes’ collection The Hawk in the Rain, which was dedicated to his wife, Sylvia Plath.
Hughes was inspired by the work of Wilfred Owen, who also wrote about war without experiencing it. Hughes’ father fought in World War I and was one of the few survivors of the Gallipoli campaign. Hughes was able to make sense of the war through his writing, even though he never saw it happen.
Bayonet Charge is unusual for a Hughes poem in
that it focuses on a nameless soldier in the WWI – although he
did write other war-themed poems, much of his work focused
instead on nature and the animal kingdom in particular, and
myths and legends. His father had fought in the war
