Context

• 1. Ted Hughes was a famous war poet. However, as he wasn’t alive during WW1 and was a child during WW2, he never fought or saw war firsthand. Instead, Hughes grew up in the post-war era and saw its influence in his home in Yorkshire. This rural upbringing is evident in his poetry which usually focuses on animals. Hughes studied mythology which is shown in the image of the yellow hare as well as anthropology which is shown through the poem’s fixation on instinctual behaviour.
• 1. The poem is from the collection “The Hawk in the Rain” which was dedicated to his wife, Sylvia Plath. The poems in the collection were focused on the real and symbolic lives of animals.
• 1. Hughes was writing in a post-war era that was greatly influenced by WW1 and WW2. The poem was published in 1957 but was set in WW1. His poems are a way for him to make sense of the events he never saw but whose impacts were seen daily
• 1. Hughes’ father fought in WW1 and was one of only seventeen Lancaster Fusiliers to survive the Gallipoli campaign, leaving him emotionally traumatised for life. It is thought that in Bayonet Charge Hughes wanted 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.
• 1. This poem was greatly inspired by Wilfred Owen who similarly tries to depict the reality of war in his poetry. Owen also wrote about events that he had never experienced, showing his insight.