Bayonet Charge

Question 1

Ted hughes

Answer 1

Ted Hughes was a 20th-century English poet. His father served in and survived World War One, and Ted spent two years as a mechanic in the RAF before going to university. ‘Bayonet Charge’ was published in 1957.

Question 2

Form

Answer 2

The poem uses enjambment and caesura, and has lines of uneven length. This creates an irregular rhythm, which mirrors the soldier struggling to run through the mud. The narrator uses the pronoun “he” rather than naming the soldier to keep him anonymous. It suggests that he is a universal figure who could represent any young soldier.

Question 3

Structure

Answer 3

The poem starts in medias res (in the middle of the action) and covers the soldier’s
movements and thoughts over a short space of time. The first stanza sees the soldier acting on 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.

Question 4

Violent imagery

Answer 4

There is some shocking imagery which brings home the sights and sounds
of war. This helps to strongly convey the sense of confusion and fear.

Question 5

Figurative imagery

Answer 5

poem includes powerful figurative language to emphasise
the horror and physical pain of the charge, and also to question the point of war.

Question 6

Natural imagery

Answer 6

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 of the
“yellow hare” reminds the reader of how the natural world is also damaged by war.

Question 7

Suddenly he awoke and was running

Answer 7

In media res, sounds as if he is confused and in a vulnerable state the events seem like a nightmare but this confirms they are real

Question 8

Bullets smacking the belly out of the air

Answer 8

Violent imagery and onomatopoeia describes the sound and impact of the shots