Bayonet Charge Flashcards
Historical context
1957 set in WW1 his farther survived the battle of Gallipoli so may have wanted to draw attention to the hardships of trench warfare.
Draws a contrast between idealism of patriotism and reality of fighting and killing “KING,HONOUR,HUMAN”
What does the irregular stanza and free verse show?
IRREGULAR STANZA-1 and 3rd stanza are full of action.2nd stanza time stands still to convey soldiers bewilderment and reflective thoughts
FREE VERSE-lack of order in the emotional charge of the solider. Represents the freedom they are fighting for as soldiers.
How is Enjambement/in medias res used?
ENJAMBEMENT AND CAESURA emphasizes contrast between his movement and his fear/hesitation
IN MEDIAS RES- the .soldier is plunged into action-he goes over the top without thought.
What type of imagery does “fields of clods/yellow hare” imply?
Images of nature juxtaposed with violent images shows effect of conflict of the natural world.Field become battle field and even the hare represents death at the end.
hare-yellow is the colour of fear and hares are prey.Could be possible that the hare is another solider shot and sacred hence it’s “mouth wide”
What type of imagery does “Cold clockwork of the stars and the nation”imply?
clockwork, metaphor for his actions as being more like a clockwork machine than human therefore the soldiers have no emotions . Trivialises war to a game of toy clockwork soldiers between nations.
also say it emphasizes the soldiers insignificance and futility to control the situation they are in
“cold” implies the officers don’t care about the individual soldiers they hearts have turned cold
What type of imagery does “like a man who jumped in the dark” imply?
Simile of a man who is running with no purpose or direction
does the dark represent absence of reason for war Is the man trying to find A justification of war but he cannot find it as it leads to darkness?
What is accumulation?
“KING,HONOUR,HUMAN”-
abstract nouns accumulation many reason to go to war
“DROPPED LIKE LUXURIES”-. During battle, these concepts ‘drop like luxuries’. For those directly involved in the fighting, belief in these ideals is self-indulgent and irrelevant and must be abandoned to survive
Reality of conflict
theme
vividly describes the events of a conflict.Poem is a single snap shot of the moment on battlefield
Don’t know if its real,a nightmare or waking nightmare of a solider who has been permanently traumatised
Feels bewilderment and panic as he charges forward.
Patriotism
theme
Express how conflict affects those involved
motives that people claim for going to war is irrelevant
He started as a patriotic solider but then the motivation turned to fear
What are the quotes for the theme reality of conflict?
“Terrors Touchy dynamite”-metaphor makes the soldier into something explosive The alliterative T and the plosive sound of “D” create a phrase that sounds like a repeated punch as though the language itself is ready to attack.
“Raw”-uncooked animal characteristic being applied to the solider (dehumanisation)not prepared,painfully exposed to reality.Wounded and sore burden of war has left that raw rash on him
What are the quotes for the theme patriotism?
“Sweating like molten iron”-pressure of war.Harmful consequences of war internally shown.melt implies the burden is slowly deterioration him conations of volcano about to erupt at the end
“suddenly”-in media res-not prepared to kill so how patriotic is he?
What do the verbs do in this poem?
Clear sense of movement
“dazzled”&”lugged”
dazzled-in shock,over powered by intense light maybe its the light you see before death or is it gun fire whats reality?
lugged-syntax he is shocked before he sets the rifle up he cant carry it its a burden slowing him down
