Bayonet Charge Flashcards
Who wrote bayonet charge and when
Ted Hughes in 1957
Summary of bayonet charge
describes the thoughts and behaviours of a soldier in the midst of a battle during World War I, the main message was to highlight the brutality of trench warfare as a tribute to his father’s suffering as well as a way to memorialize war as a warning for future generations.
Key themes in bayonet charge
Explores idea of the soldier being a machine
Brutality for war
Patriotism
Reality of war
Context of bayonet charge
-Hughes grew up in post war era and saw its influence on his home as his father fought in World War One but was one of the only ones who survived amongst his crew which left him emotionally traumatised for life
Structure and form of bayonet charge
-chaotic structure to mirror chaos and panic of war
-frequent use of enjambement and caesura makes poem feel disjointed and confusing which reflects the message war cannot be understood fully
-written in third poserons which allows reader to focus on individual impact of war, also emphasises the isolation felt by soldiers (no source of help or comfort )
Key quotes of bayonet charge
‘Cold clockwork’
‘King honour human dignity etcetera dropped like luxuries ‘
‘In raw seamed hot khaki’
‘Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame’
Analyse quote ‘in raw seemed hot khaki’
-Repetition of raw creates sense of desperation
-connotation for raw are animalistic which denotes the lack of humanity in the situation
-could emphasise the soldier’s inexperience and lack of preparation
Analyse quote ‘cold clockwork’
-dehumanising him as a machine, as if the soldiers are being used as physical tools rather than sentient beings (living beings)
-metaphor
-The soldier doesn’t feel that he has made a choice to actively participate in war, He is merely a hand on a clock, a cog in the machine, exploited by much larger and more powerful forces
Analyse quote ‘threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame’
-Circular motion suggest that the hare is trapped in a repetitive cycle (someone else’s battle)
-only other living being in poem emphasises all soldiers that have already been killed links back to his father
Analyse quote ‘king honour human dignity etcetera dropped like luxeries’
-only those not involved in fighting can continue to believe these grand ideals
-far from bring necessary motivation these concepts are hollow and meaningless in brutal realities of war, survival is only thing that matters
-he’s abandoned his previous upheld values
