Bayonet Charge- Ted Hughes Flashcards
Explain the context in ‘Bayonet Charge’
The poem is about a nameless soldier going over the top in the trenches. Soldiers would have bayonets attached to the end of their rifles and would use them to stab enemy soldiers. The nameless soldier in the poem seems to become more of a weapon than a man, rushing towards the enemy. It is not clear at the end whether he dies but there is definitely a change in him. His actions are very raw and primal, much like an animal, suddenly pausing, preparing to react. The poet, Ted Hughes, was a former RAF serviceman and includes a great amount of natural and historical ideas in his poems and he often looks at man’s impact on nature.
Although it was written much later, the poem is set during WW1. It describes a soldier going ‘over the top’. This was when the soldiers climbed out of their trenches and charged towards enemy lines, carrying bayonets. These charges usually resulted in heavy casualties.
Explain the themes in ‘Bayonet Charge’
The poem clearly is set around conflict in that is a soldier rushing out of the trenches on the attack. However, the poem also looks at ideas like transformation, humanity and nature (in the form of the yellow hare and green hedge). In the poem the soldier is almost more machine or animal than human and this is reflected in the power themed words used to describe him
Explain the structure in ‘Bayonet Charge’
There are three stanzas and the work is largely blank verse with no set structure. In part the different lines help show the pace of charge, sometimes fast, sometimes stumbling. Towards the end it picks up speed, perhaps as he approaches his destination or doom. The poet uses a lot of enjambment and caesura to give a bizarre and erratic speed to the poem. This helps again give a structure to the speed of the charge but also the confusion and intensity of the battle with explosions and gunfires as well as the jumbled thoughts of the soldier.
The poem uses enjambment and caesura and has lines of uneven length. This creates an irregular rhythm which mirrors the soldier struggling to run through the mud. The narrator uses the pronoun “he” rather than naming the soldier to keep him anonymous. It suggests that he is a universal figure who could represent any young figure.
The poem starts in media res (in the middle of action) and covers the soldiers thoughts and movements over a short period of time. The final stanza sees the soldier acting on instinct but time seems to stand still in the second stanza, when the soldier begins to think about his situation. In the final stanza he gives up his thoughts and ideals and seems to have lost his humanity.
Explain other elements of ‘Bayonet Charge’
Violent imagery- there is some shocking imagery which brings home the sights and sounds of war. This helps to strongly convey the sense of confusion and fear.
Figurative language- the poem includes powerful figurative language to emphasise the horror and physical pain of the charge, and also to question the point of the war
Natural imagery- the repeated references to the “green hedge” and the mention of a “field” and “threshing circle” shows the natural, agricultural setting of the war. The painful image of the “yellow hare” reminds the reader of how the natural world is also damaged by war.
What are the feelings and attitudes of ‘Bayonet Charge’?
Terror- the poem challenged patriotism and shows how desperate terror becomes the overriding emotion in battle. The soldier is driven forward by fear rather than any more noble motive
Confusion- the soldier is physically disorientated by the gunfire, but he’s also questioning what he’s doing there at all
What are the key points of ‘Bayonet Charge’
.The poem explores a soldiers charge through a mix of physical and emotional exploration
.The language of the poem seems to juxtapose natural images and human machine, they are at conflict
.The mix of caesura and enjambment in the poem adds a chaotic tone to show the confusion of war and the inner turmoil of the soldier
Explain the significance between man and nature
There are parts of this poem which make us think more of a hunt or animals than humanity. The charge to the ‘green hedge’ seems to be more the action of an animal bolting in a field rather than soldiers charging a trench. The inclusion of the yellow hare also powerful, we see the soldier in a moment of confusion, not sure why he is there and what he is doing, the hare seems to spur him on, either because he does not want to be a coward or because it reflects a brief moment of man and nature connecting before war once again breaks it.
“Suddenly he awoke and was running”
In media res (starts in action). Sounds as if he’s in a confused,vulnerable state. The events seem like a nightmare but this confirms that they’re real. The alliteration of R and H sounds gives a sense of hard work, heavy breathing as he runs
“Raw”
Suggests inexperience and discomfort
“Bullets smacking the belly out of the air”
Violent imagery and onomatopoeia describes the sounds and impact of the shots. Personified bullets and semantic field of body parts with ‘belly’ and ‘smashed arms’ blurs the line between
