Bayonet Charge Flashcards
Context (Ted Hughes)?
Ted Hughes was a famous war poet. However, as he wasn’t alive during WW1 and was a child during WW2, he never fought or saw war first hand. Instead, Hughes grew up in the post-war era and saw it’s influence in his home in Yorkshire. This rural upbringing is evident in his poetry which usually focuses on animals. Hughes studies mythology which is shows in the image of the yellow hare as well as anthropology which is shown through the poem’s fixation on instinctual behaviour.
The poem is from the collection “The Hawk in the Rain” which was dedicated to his wife, Sylvia Plath. The poems in the collection were focused on the real and symbolic lives of animals.
Context (Bayonet charge)?
Hughes was writing in a post-war era that was greatly influenced in a post-war era that was greatly influenced by WW1 and WW2. The poem was published in 1957 but was set in WW1. His poems are a way for him to make sense of the events he never saw but whose impacts were seen daily.
Hughes’ father fought in WW1 and was one of onlu seventeen Lancaster Fusiliers to survive the Gallipoli campaign, leaving him emotionally traumatised for life. It is thought that in Bayonet charge Hughes wanted to highlight the brutality of trench warfare as a tribute to his father’s suffering as well as a way to memorializw war as a warning for future generations.
This poem was greatly inspired by Wilfred Owen who similarly tries to depict the reality of war in his poetry. Owen also wrote about events that he had never experienced, showing his insight.
Perspective in ‘Bayonet charge’?
The poem is written in third person singular which gives a limited narrative perspective. This allows the reader to focus on the individual impact of war by showing the way war impacts a single individual. As it’s written from a soldier’s perspective, the reality of the war experience is horrific to the reader who finds it impossible to view war favourably. Even though the war may be beneficial nationally, and serving in a war is seen as honourable, the poem shows that this does not excuse the suffering it inflicts on individual soldiers.
This third person singular perspective also emphasises the isolation felt by soldiers in war. As the protagonist is the only human in the poem, he is isolated from any source of help or comfort. The isolation helps to intensify the suffering of the speaker and focuses the audience on the impact that war has on them. This shows that despite fighting in an army a battle is about self preservation and that they are ultimately on their own. Moreover, soldiers are still neglected by the nation they fought for and are left to go back to society.
Enjabment in ‘Bayonet charge’?
Enjabment stops the reader from taking a break or pause which quickens the pace of the poem. The whole of the first stanza is a single sentence. This matches the tense action of the poem and maintains the momentum of a bayonet charge and helps the reader to empathise with the panic and fear felt by the soldier.
The enjabment helps to emphasise the importance of the rhetorical question it ends on- “was he the hand pointing that second?”. Here, the reader is forced to question whether thr soldier is at war by his own choice or is a mechanical cog in a constantly ticking clock.
Caesura in ‘Bayonet charge’?
The fast pace created by the enjabment in the first stanza starkly contrasts with the second stanza. The pace of the second stanza is much slower as it’s broken up with lots of caesura. Here the soldier stops to consider the philosophical meaning of war. The pace of th poem is paused, implying that time has stopped or th soldier is so overwhelmed that they are forced to pause and consider. This has the alyernative effect of causing the listener to pause and consider the reality of war.
Hughes’ frequent use of enjabment and caesura makes the poem feel disjointed and confusing. The structure is consistent with his message that war cannot be understood fully.
Use of metaphors in ‘Bayonet charge’
Hughes infuses the physical actions of the soldier with metaphorical meaning. During war, sleep is a time of safety and protection. The act of waking up involves waking up to danger and realising one’s own mortality. The soldier may have literally “awoke” in response to a threat but there’s also a figurative side to him waking up in. Here, the soldier could have gained awareness of the reality of war.
It is possible that the events before this moment were comparable to sleeping and disconnected from actual fighting, Hughes suggests that this might be due to the “patriotic tears (s)” that placd soldiers under an illusion of the honour and pride in fighting, it is only when they arrive on the frontline that the effects of propganda wear off and the true horrow of war is realised. “Was running” shows that he is no longer protected by the safety associated with sleep and the safety of denying war’s reality for the favourable view presented in propaganda.
Similies in ‘Bayonet charge’?
Hughes portrays the soldier as unprepared for war and unsuitable for his role by using a similie to liken his rifle tos a smashed arm: “he lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm”. This implies that the soldier seems disconnected from his weapon and uncomfortable holding it, showing his physical unsuitability for his role. The rifle is presented to be numb and cold showing how unnatural the soldier deems committing acts of violence. There are six similies used in the poem, implying that there is no way for Hughes to accurately describe what war is like. As Hughes has no first hand experience of war, the only way he csn describe it is compare to his own personal experiences.
The surroudings in ‘Bayonet charge’?
Hughes poses the argument that nature is a victim of war through his use of personification. He described the “bullets smacking the belly out of the air”. Here the active verb “smacking” serves to demonstrate the violence inflicted on the air. This is emphasised through the use of harsh plosive sounds in “bullets” and “belly”. The personification of the air as having a “belly” allows the reader to have sympathy for the effect of war on nature. Through describing it in human terms they are more able to relate to the abuse.
Peaceful images are juxtaposed with the violence of fighting showing the contrast between life and death. The simple, childish description of “green hedge” provides a peaceful, innocent symbol of (plant) life. This is transformed into the focus of the bayonet charge, a symbol of death as it “dazzled with rifle fire”
