bayonet charge

• when was bayonet charge published?

  1957
• who was ted hughes father?

  a ww1 soldier who survived
• why is the soldier in the poem not named?

  his anonymity represents all the soldiers
• what is bayonet charge?

  a 2 moment in time poem meaning a specific moment slowed down
• what is the soldier in bayonet charge?

  a metaphor for all the other soldiers
• what is bayonet charge about?

  the soldiers overriding emotion and motivation is fear which has replaced the patriotic ideal he had before the violence
• what does the word bayonet sugges?

  • close contact battle
  • a gun with a knife on the end
• what does the quotation "over the top" in bayonet charge describe?

  the soldiers climbing out of the trenches and charging towards the enemies with their bayonets
• how is emotionlessness represented in bayonet charge?

  • "cold clockwork" - suggests time is irrelevant to him + image of passing time + "cold" suggests death
• what is a key quote of bayonet charge?

  • "sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest" - he feels anger and physical pain inside of him + "molten" is a similie + "sweating" is a verb
• what is another key quote of bayonet charge?

  "king, honour, human dignity, etcetra" - shows patriotic ideal of war + no point talking about it anymore because the war is futile + propaganda is the reason he was sold to go to war
• how is natural imagery shown in bayonet charge?

  • "yellow hare" - suggests light imagery+ natural imagery
• what does "patriotic tear" in bayonet charge suggest?

  the fear is taking control over him
• what are the themes of bayonet charge?

  • patriotism
  • heroism
  • loss of pride
• what is the structure of bayonet charge?

  • lack of rhyme scheme - shows chaos of war
  • written in third person which creates a distance between the soldier, reader and experience
  • poem opens in media res
• what is the atmosphere of bayonet charge?

  • terror - at the beginning and then becomes his overriding emotion in battle
  • confusion- disorientated by the gunfire and the whole situation
• what is another key quote of bayonet charge?

  • "bullets smacking" - personification + onomatopoeia which suggests violent sounds of war
• what else is bayonet charge about?

  a frantic soldier in battle who begins questioning why and who he is making this sacrifice for