Bayonet Charge Flashcards
Who wrote Bayonet charge?
Ted Hughes’s
Summary of Bayonet Charge
Hughes depicts a soldier desperately charging into battle
How does the speaker feel in the the poem Bayonet Charge?
- isolated from source or help/comfort
- neglected by the nation
- desensitised to harshness of the war
Bayonet Charge:
“He . . . a . . . numb as a . . . arm”
“He lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm”
“He lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm”
- semantic field of body parts and violence
- metaphor dehumanising the soldier
Bayonet Charge:
“The . . . tear . . . sweating like . . . iron from the . . . of his chest”
“The patriotic tear . . . sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest”
“The patriotic tear . . . sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest”
- sense of duty
- realisation the propaganda was false
- physically pained
Bayonet Charge:
“King, . . . , human dignity etcetera . . . dropped like human . . . ”
“King, honour, human dignity etcetera . . . dropped like human luxuries”
“King, honour, human dignity etcetera . . . dropped like human luxuries”
- asyndetic listing
- values are abandoned
- sick and mocking
Bayonet Charge:
“Threw up a yellow . . . that rolled like a . . . ”
“Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame”
“Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame”
- projects the violence of war
- soldiers are immune to death
- personification
- feature of spring
Bayonet Charge:
“its . . . wide // Open . . . ”
“its mouth wide // Open silent”
“its mouth wide // Open silent”
- nature is a victim
- explicit and graphic
- human scream
What is the structure of the poem Bayonet Charge?
- start in media res
- third person singular
What other poems link to Bayonet charge?
- Charge of the light brigade
- Exposure
- Remains
