Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes

• "Suddenly he awoke" - Fast paced start as if he is in a confused or vulnerable state.
• "hot khaki, his sweat heavy" - "h" signifies the heavy breathing.
• "Bullets smacking the belly out of the air" - Violent imagery and onomatopoeia.
• "A rifle as numb as a smashed arm" - Suggests his weapon is useless and fore-shadows the injuries he is likely to get.
• "In what cold clockwork of the stars and nations" - Soldiers insignificance and lack of control.
• "His terrors touchy dynamite" - Soldiers seem to have become a weapon rather than a human being.
• • questioning justifications of war
  • reality of war - exposure
  • nihilism
• Structure:

  • starts mid action 'suddenly'
  • enjambment
  • Caesura