Bayonet Charge- Ted Hughes Flashcards
describe what the poem is about
poem focuses on single soldier’s experience of a charge towards enemy lines. describes his thoughts and actions as he tries stay alive. soldier’s overriding emotion and motivation is fear, which has replaced more patriotic ideal that he held before violence began
describe the form
poem uses enjambment and caesura , uneven line length, creates irregular rhythm, mirrors soldier struggling to run through mud.
describe the structure
poem starts in medias res, covers soldier’s movements and thoughts over short space time. first stanza soldier acting on instinct, but time seems to stand still in 2nd stanza when soldier thinks about situation. in final stanza he gives up his thoughts and ideals and seems to have lost his humanity
“suddenly he awoke”
sounds as if he’s in a confused, vulnerable state. events seem like a nightmare, but this confirms that they’re real
“raw”
double meaning- suggests discomfort but also inexperience
“hot” “his” “heavy”
repeated ‘h’ sounds imitates the soldier’s heavy breathing as he runs
“bullets smacking the belly out of the air”
violent imagery and onomatopoeia describes sound and impact of the shots
“a rifle numb as a smashed arm”
simile suggests his rifle is useless and foreshadows the injuries he’s likely to get
“patriotic tear” “sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest,”
his patriotism has turned to fear and pain- his heroic ideals have been reality
“he almost stopped-“
stanza pauses action and focuses on soldier wondering why he is there
“in what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations”
emphasises the soldier’s insignificance and his lack of control of his situation. “cold”implies that people in charge of war don’ care about individual soldiers
“statuary in mid-stride. Then the shot-slashed furrows”
“statuary” - as if soldier is turned to stone by his bewilderment. caesura ends his period of thought and forces him to return to reality
“rolled like a flame”
simile emphasises the hare’s frantic movement and hints at danger soldier is in
“and crawled in a threshing circle”
distressing image of out-of-control movement . “threshing circle” is an agricultural term, used to suggest that nature is affected by war
“open silent”
suggests pain and fear above expression
