Bayonet Charge

• Context of BC

  • Ted Hughes was not actually alive during WWl, however his father fought in Gallipoli, a fact which may influence his thoughts and feelings on war

  
  

  • Hughes grew up in Yorkshire in a post-War society, not fighting in war but seeing the effects of war on his humble rural home.

  
  

  • His poetry often focuses on animals, as seen with the hare in this poem.

  • Bayonet Charge was from a collection of poems called " The Hawk in the Rain", dedicated to his wife Sylvia Plath. The anthology focuses mainly on animals and their behaviours. This focus on animalistic is seen with the poems focus on instinctual behaviours.

  
  

  • Hughes was heavily influenced by Wilfred Owen and that fact is seen clearly in Bayonet Charge,which shares many similarities with Owen's poem "Spring Offensive"
• The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye


  • Hughes exposes how the patriotism that often compels people to go to war leaves them once they witness the visceral brutality of it. Hughes shows this when he writes "patriotic tear", showing that patriotism is what compelled the soldier to go to war, and is what leaves him when he decides to save himself.
• King, honour, human dignity, etcetera dropped like luxuries

  Hughes uses Asyndetic listing to list out common reasons for people to go to war, saying

  "king, honour, human dignity", building up an exhaustive list of reasons for people to go to war before contrasting it with "dropped like human luxuries" to show how they pale in comparison to the barbaric nature of war. The usage of the word "human" may be Hughes showing how it is a human trait to convince an organism to give up its life for a cause that actually has minimal effect on it. • that people go to war Hughes also adds "etcetera" almost to ridicule these reasons and to show how sick he is of hearing them, so much so that they do not bear mentioning anymore.
• cold clockwork'

  Hughes also uses harsh alliterative consonants in "cold clockwork" to re emphasise the mechanical and emotionless nature of war. "Clockwork" also emphasises how war will keep going on regardless of what happens around, completely blind to the suffering of the humans that fight in it.
• "lugging a rifle as numb as a smashed arm"


  Through the usage of a simile here, Hughes may be demonstrating how he views the soldier as dehumanised, used as a weapon of war. By likening the rifle to a smashed arm Hughes may be telling the reader that the speaker views the rifle as an extension of himself, being used as merely a weapon of war. "Smashed" highlights how he feels that he is now useless, perhaps to scarred to fight any longer
• Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest

  Hughes uses a simile to compare the soldier to metal, a key component of war, to once more show how the soldier is no longer human, rather he is just a small part of the war machine.
• Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame And crawled in a threshing circle, its mouth wide

  Open silent, its eyes standing out.


  • Hughes uses the hare as symbolic of the suffering of the soldiers. Hughes uses the hare to show how the ruthlessness of war affects all indiscriminately, and that therefore there are no winners in war. Hughes uses explicit violence and graphic imagery in order to fully communicate the suffering of the hare, saying it was in a "threshing circle" and it's mouth "wide open, silent" The agricultural imagery of "threshing circle" may be alluding to how the soldiers are almost harvested, in that they are indiscriminately cut down and killed whereas the "silence" of the hare may be referring to how the soldiers are unable to speak on their plight.

  The general portrayal of the hare as suffering so dramatically may be Hughes trying to show how war has rendered the soldier so desensitised to human suffering that it took the suffering of an innocent animal to break him out of his trance.
• slot slashed furrows'


  Hughes uses alliteration here to emphasise the repetition of damage to nature, with the furrows dug into the ground becoming "shot slashed" The repetition of the "s" sound also mimics bullets, in order to make the suffering of nature more salient to the reader.
• Suddenly he awoke and was running

  Hughes also elaborates on the dehumanisation of the soldiers by showing the panic and terror going through a soldier's mind. The poem begins in media res with "suddenly he awoke and was running" to show how the soldier is thrust into the heat of battle, with the suddenness of the start of the poem reflecting how the soldier feels thrust into a life threatening situation.
• Perspective (form)


  Poem in third person singular, allowing the poet to focus on showing the reader how war impacts one person through the perspective of that person.

  By showing the war through the eyes of the soldier, Hughes makes it impossible to view war favourably, rather the soldier's abject terror is rubbed off on the reader.

  The singular perspective also focuses on the isolation felt by soldiers, thrust into a life or death situation with no means of hope or comtort. Hughes presents it as ironic that in an army of thousands each and every one feels so lonely.

  Hughes writes in a third person singular form perhaps as he has no first hand experience of war
• Lack of rhyme scheme (form)

  There is a clear lack of rhyme scheme within the poem, with lines never bearing any form of audible similarity to the ending of the line before them.

  • This may be Hughes intentionally attempting to communicate to the reader the absolute lack of regularity and order within the soldiers experiences of war, with every new moment bringing another challenge and another surprise.

  • The lack of rhyme also creates an atmosphere of discomfort and nerviness for the audience who are never able to settle into a rhythm and regularity, rather they are forced to listen to the soldier's anguish with every line being something new.
• Enjambment (structure)

  The entirety of the first stanza is one sentence. This maintains the cadence of a bayonet charge, allowing the reader to fully feel the panic and terror of the soldier

  
  

  • By his generous use of enjambment Hughes stops the reader from pausing to take a break. This creates an atmosphere of breathlessness and chaos, once more not allowing the reader to get comfortable or settle into a rhythm whilst reading the poem. This once better allows the reader to empathise with the soldier. The enjambment also means that many lines flow into the next unhindered, perhaps trying to mirror how the terrifying moments of war blend into one stream for the soldier.
• Caesura (structure)

  Hughes uses the caesura in order to slow the poem down. This fact is very salient in the second stanza, especially when compared to the first. In the first where the soldier is making a madcap dash with his troop as a part of the bayonet charge there is a lot of enjambment, contributing to the fast pace. This is contrasted with the use of the caesura in the second stanza, where the soldier is deliberating war, the philosophy of it and his role in it.

  The frequent use of the caesura and enjambment throughout the poem make the poem not flow an make it confusing, perhaps intentionally in order to portray the confusion a soldier feels during war
• Similarities with Exposure - Themes

  Both portray dehumanisation of soldiers. BC Highlights how the soldiers are used as machines of war, often even though soldiers are questioning their own choices as opposed to being proud of their sacrifice In Exposure, Soldiers

  similarly question why they are there. Owens highlights how the soldiers are seen as as good as mud, with the pernicious effects of the weather shown to be slowly killing the soldiers.
• Differences with Exposure - Themes

  Both shows conflicting wills to live as BC highlights the innate human desire to survive, juxtaposing the traditional

  reasons people are normally told to lay down their lives with the speakers will to survive. Exposure portrays a darker more horrifying image of war, with the soldiers slowly rotting in holes and dying. There is a sense of

  resignation throughout the poem, with the soldiers accepting their fate as eventual death.
• Differences with Exposure - Themes

  Exposure accepts that it is the weather that is the predominant cause

  for the soldiers suffering as opposed to the actual war going on

  In BC the soldier is shown to be in the actual midst of a battle and responding to the threats he faces during the battle accordingly.
• Similarities with Exposure - Form

  Both use irregular rhyming in order to

  portray a sense of unease and chaos. Hughes may be purposefully trying to convey to the reader how completely chaotic and disorderly soldiers' experiences of warfare are, and how each new moment brings with it a fresh set of difficulties and surprises. and Exposure uses half rhymes in order to convey the soldiers nervousness and unease.
• Differences with Exposure - Form

  BC used a fluctuating 7-8-7

  structure. Whereas Exposure is much more regulated with 5 line stanzas. The fluctuation of the stanza length in BC may be indicative of the soldier's changing mind about what he is doing
• Similarities with Exposure - Structure

  Both use anti-climax. In BC the soldier prioritises life over war. This is

  anticlimactic as the entire poem builds up to the final moment just for the soldier to decide against it. Exposure uses bathos masterfully, with rich vivid description in 4 of the 5 lines in each stanza, just to end with an anticlimax bringing people back to the reality of war.
• Differences with Exposure - Structure

  BC uses enjambment to try and communicate the panic and disjointed nature of conflict with the use of enjambment shows how the soldier's thoughts and feelings melt into one unintelligible stream. Exposure focuses on the use of the Caesura, using it to show confusions and unease throughout the poem, as well as using it to provide a literary barrier between that which the soldiers dream of and their reality.
• Similarities with Exposure - Context

  Both poems set in WWl, descriptions of scenery and manners of fighting re emphasises this.
• Differences with Exposure - Context

  Exposure written during an actual war, therefore feeling more visceral and gritty, describing minute details a soldier may see whereas BC is more of a general account of war.
• Similarities with Remains - Themes

  Both portray dehumanisation of soldiers. BC Exposes how soldiers are used as tools of war, often against their wishes. In Remains The soldier is sent out on these types of missions frequently, often being made to kill and risk death by the powers that be without a thought as to the long term ramifications of this.
• Differences with Remains - Themes

  Whereas Remains focuses on effects of conflict after the event and how they impact the soldier's life. BC is more focused on the actual charge and the soldier's thought process throughout that.
• Similarities with Remains - Form

  Both begin in media res to communicate the confusion and panic of soldiers placed in these ditticult situations.
• Differences with Remains - Form

  Whereas Remains largely has a regular 4 line stanza form, BC fluctuates with a 7-8-7 structure, perhaps to highlight the changing opinions of the soldier on what he is doing as the charge progresses.
• Similarities with Remains - Structure

  Both poets use enjambment to try and communicate the panic and disjointed nature of their respective conflicts; the use of enjambment shows how their thoughts and feelings melt into one unintelligible stream.
• Differences with Remains - Structure

  Be utilises longer line length, perhaps to communicate the extent of thought and feeling the soldiers experience in the few seconds that he is charging, highlighting the innate humanity in what is expected to be an emotionless machine of war.
• Similarities with Remains - Context

  Both writing on experiences of conflict and the thought processes of soldiers; Remains focuses on the Irag conflict of 2003 and BC on WWl.
• Differences with Remains - Context

  Remains focuses on a first hand account whereas BC is more general. Ted Hughes father did fight in WWl but this is not a direct account