Bayonet Charge

• ''In what cold clockwork of the stars and nations''

  • cold = emotionless, clockwork = suggests war is calculated
  • cold clockwork = alliterative consonants, reinforces the cold mechanical nature of war
  • stars = fate
  • nations = the government
• ''Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame''

  • threw up = gruesome imagery, reflects the soldiers nausea
  • hare = innocent nature
  • rolled like a flame = a simile, a beautiful image that juxtaposes reality
• ''The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye''

  • patriotic tear = pain caused by the country's wishes - questions patriotism
  • brimmed = not willing to release his emotions, he knows he is only a pawn and his feelings do not matter to them
• ''King, honour, human dignity, etcetera''

  • king,honour, human dignity = reasons to fight
  • etcetera = makes war seem pointless, the soldier has abandoned his values
• ''His terror's touchy dynamite''

  • terror's = fear for his life
  • touchy dynamite = goes off at any second.
  • Therefore his decision to run away could be explosive