Bayonet Charge
Poet
TED HUGHES
Context
- During World War I, soldiers were equipped with bayonets that were attached to the end of their rifles.
- They could use these weapons for both close and distant combat.
Plot
- This poem begins mid action, a trope called__ ‘in media res’ __- the Latin, which literally translates to ‘in the middle of things’ - with a man running towards a hedge.
- He is struggling to run across the field, which slows him down.
- He becomes very thoughtful, pondering on why and how he has found himself in this situation.
- He pauses to watch a yellow hare that is thrown up before him.
- This reminds him how transient life is and is symbolic of his perilous situation.
Form
- Blank verse
- Enjambment
- Caesura
- Varied line length
- Reflecting the soldier’s journey and pace
- Past tense
Structure
- Three stanzas
Language
- Alliteration
- Onomatopoeia
- Personification
- Metaphor
- Rhetorical question
- Listing
Tone
- Patriotic
- Fear
- Disillusionment
- Cynicism
Themes
- Power of humans
- Power of nature
- War
- Death