Bayonet Charge Flashcards
The poem tries to…
step inside the body and mind of the soldier having to carry out one of the most terrifying acts of war: charging straight into enemy rifle fire.
The poem explores the conflict between a sense of patriotism and the pointlessness of war, even though Hughes himself wasn’t alive during World War I. He grew up in a post-war era, and his poems were a way for him to make sense of the events he never saw but which impacted him and the country.
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 memorialise 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.
The poem is written in free-verse to reflect the…
uncertain and chaotic nature of war - the subject is also “suddenly” thrown into action and we make sense of the situation alongside him so the lack of rhythm and rhyme could be mirroring the confusion of the soldier as he slowly takes in his surroundings. The lack of predictability shows the soldier’s vulnerability in the situation as he is given no assistance and is completely deserted in a very dangerous position.
The poet’s use of the third person singular emphasises the sense of isolation felt by soldiers in war…
As the protagonist is the only human in the poem, his isolation helps to intensify the emotion and sense of suffering - this comments on the human condition i.e. the need for survival, and the ideology of ‘every man for himself’
This shows that, despite fighting in an army, a battle is about self-preservation and, ultimately, the soldiers are on their own
The desensitised soldier…
is unable to react to the death of soldiers. It is certain that alongside our subject other soldiers are running across No Man’s Land trying to get to the enemy trench but no details of other soldiers’ (deaths) are noted perhaps showing that the soldiers have simply become pawns, machines, blinded by propaganda and patriotism and are no longer affected by the horrors around them.
The symbol of the Hare
1) “Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame (…) its mouth wide open silent”
The Hare acts as a warning to the soldier - as the hare is running across No Man’s Land, in terror, trying to survive, the soldier realises that he should probably be doing the same.
The vulnerability of a Hare, powerless and innocent, usually hunted by ‘hunters’ reflects on the vulnerability of the soldiers who have become prey.
“open silent” - screaming - the soldiers are terrified, screaming for help but no one cares, no one hears.
The expression of the Hare mirrors the solders’ realisation of the pointlessness of war, the terror they find themselves in, and the horror of war moments before their deaths - their mouths are open silent since they are speechless, voiceless as they are controlled by higher powers who have taken their humanity from them - their eyes are “standing out” as they finally see the truth, gain their vision back and break free from the propagandic oppression of their real thoughts .
“Suddenly he awoke and was running - raw”//”raw-seamed”
Opens in media res. - throws the listener into the action without guidance, mirroring the soldiers’ inability to make sense of the situation - the contrast between “waking” and “running” shows the lack of control the soldier has over the situation as he seems to be running for no reason that he’s aware of - he simply is. Existing solely for the purpose of dying in war is the view that the army had on the soldiers and expected them to function like machines doing things on command as if coded that way.
Repetition of ‘raw’ connotes a lack of humanity i.e. the animalistic behaviour of the soldier. Alliteration adds intensity to the discomfort of his physical experience.
“Raw” could be alluding to the soldier representing the rawest form of human - he’s simply living to survive.
“Raw” could also be expressing a sense of inexperience - he’s immature, and possibly very young yet finds himself in vicious conflict.
“Raw-seamed” treats him as a product or commodity of the government.
“A green hedge that dazzled with rifle fire”
Denotation = soldier’s difficulty to focus and see due to gunfire
Connotation = “dazzled” = beautiful = beautiful sparks created by the rifle = propaganda wrongly glorifies and beautifies war.
Pastoral imagery, such as the “green hedge” and the “yellow hare”, are juxtaposed with the violent language of war This shows the conflict between what is happening and the surroundings
The poem is set in the countryside, as the soldier charges across “a field of clods” This shows how an area of nature has become a battleground - inspired by Wilfred Owen’s dominant conviction that war damages and transforms nature in irreversable ways.
