Bayonet charge Flashcards
“suddenly”
poem begins mid action clearly something has one before making the reader confused. exactly how the soldier is feeling when he suddenly wakes up and charging towards his bayonent
structure
the poem has a chaotic structure with enjambment even between stanzas. just like the soilder is thrown into a chaotic and disordered event waking up into a battle charge the enjambment reflects this just like the solider the reader struggles to make sense of the chaotic structure. difficulty of getting to the end of he poem can reflect the difficulty the soldier faces in getting to the point he wishes too reache whilst running, huge ammounts of sibilance in the poem the effect of this is too slow down time when you prounouce the s’s it forces you to speak more slowly this is crucial to the poem as at the moment the soilder awakes in his terror suddently time slows down even though hes running towards death either his own or the germans his going to kill.slowing down time allow hid to change his perspective and for us too see his vunerable and can be shot at any moment, the slower he moves the more likely that is. in the last stanza theres less sibilance therefore time is speeding up becauses he getting closer to the enemy lines.
“numb as a smashed arm”/”sweating like molton”/”rolled like a flame”
overwhelming use of similes suggest that the war is so indescribable that he has too compare it to something its like because he cannot say what it is because its so awful.
“bullets smacking the belly out of the air “
theres a interesting personification of “the air” it can be seen as a symbol of nature showing that nature is just as much a victim of war . or that war as nature is being attaced linking to Hughes love of nature as hes a romantic poet therefore he is appalled by nature being attacked.
“threw up yellow hare that rolled like flame”
“yellow hare” also refers to nature. reminds the reader of the impact war has on nature.”threw up shows war itself is a sickness that causes nature itself to throw up the contrast in the darkness is shown in the simile , light is provided by the “flamed yellow hare” the horror of war is not conveyed by the hundreds of men being killed but the suffering of nature in the yellow hare “flame” itself is in out of control violent light conveys the dangers that the solider is in. it is ironic he’s see’s the light as it were
and sees how pointless the war is but that realization has come to late and he will probably will get shot anyways. similes of the poem gives us access of the soldiers changing point of view and realization that the war is wrong.
“what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations”
Hughes is passionate about astrology the poet is thinking if this moment is destined by the stars or was it the power on earth, governments represented by “nations” it seems neither are interested in war..
“His terrors touchy dynamite”
his terrors just like dynamite because its his terror that will get him to the enemy lines and explode at the Germans also the dynamite of his terror is actually going to cause him to die instead of preserving himself its making him charge straight at the enemies line so its going to blow up and kill him. it shows how dehumanized the soldiers have become they are now simply weapons.
