‘Bayonet Charge’, by Ted Hughes, is a poem about a WW1 soldier. Hughes himself was
born in 1930, long after the end of WW1, so the poem is not based on his own personal
experience. It’s an imagined account. We begin the poem mid action, with a solider
charging towards the enemy, rifle in hand. The solider is running, stumbling across a
field towards a hedge. He can hear the sounds of gunfire. The horror of the moment pushes
aside his original patriotism and replaces it with sheer panic. In the second stanza,
the soldier begins to contemplate what he's doing and why he's doing it. He feels there
is no point in war. In the third and final stanza, the focus shifts
to a hare that has found itself caught up in the midst of the battle. The poet’s use
of language in the final stanza contains a mocking tone, as Hughes criticises the patriotism
of soldiers, pointing out that the noble virtues of honour and human dignity, etc. mean little
or nothing when you're facing the true horror of war.
Let me just point out, this video is a quick recap of the poem – to learn more, watch
my full analysis which I’ll link at the end.
In terms of ‘Power and Conflict’, 'Bayonet Charge' is a poem which focuses on the reality
of war, and how its true horror is ultimately indescribable.
As I mentioned, the poem begins mid-action, with the word 'suddenly'. We see the same
thing in the poem ‘Remains’. Clearly something has gone before this moment, but we as the
reader are not made aware of it. The result is that we are confused and unsure of what
is happening: just like the frightened soldier. Hughes employs enjambment to portray the chaos
of war. Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence beyond the end of a line. We see
this throughout the poem - even between stanzas, for example here where we read
Then the shot-slashed furrows//Threw up a yellow hare
The enjambment creates a disjointed, disordered effect on the reader- just like the soldier,
the reader struggles to make sense of the chaos.
Similarly, Hughes employs caesura, presenting the end of sentences mid-line, stopped with
full stops or question marks: Was he the hand pointing that second? He was
running This caesura, particularly when considered
alongside the enjambment, once again causes the reader difficulty. It's interesting to
note that this device is only used twice in the poem, both times in the second verse,
where the soldier stops to consider what he is doing and why. The caesura forces the reader,
like the soldier, to stop and think. And note the repetition in lines one and two
of the word 'raw'. The idea of 'running-raw in raw-seamed hot khaki' reminds us of ‘Extract
from the Prelude’ with ‘a huge peak black and huge’. If a student wrote this line
in a piece of creative writing, their teacher might well suggest they replace one use of
‘raw’ with a different word. The repetition means it’s clunky and doesn’t read or
flow well. The repetition reflects the shock the soldier has experienced upon waking - it
is as if he is stuttering, struggling to articulate the moment, and the poet's repetition reflects
that. This interpretation would fit in with the theme: war is so horrific, the poet is
unable to clearly express the moment, forced instead to stutter and repeat himself.
Hughes employs a vast number of similes in the poem, seen here underlined on-screen.
Yes, that’s six similes we find within ‘Bayonet Charge’. Each simile can be analysed individually,
but let’s first stop and think about the combined effect of a simile ridden poem. What
is a simile? It is the comparison of one thing to another. It’s as if Hughes is saying
‘I don’t know how to actually describe this moment. The best I can do is to compare
it to something which I can describe’. So we can add the overwhelming use of similes
to the list of devices employed by Hughes to express the sheer horror of war – a horror
so terrible it cannot be fully described. In the final stanza the soldier thinks of
'King, honour, human dignity, etcetera'. The final word, 'etcetera' is used to mean 'and
so on'. The tone is mocking, criticising the patriotic values that soldiers supposedly
have. Hughes is pointing out that these noble virtues mean little or nothing when facing
the heat of battle. The 'etcetera' is essentially saying 'King, honour, human dignity, blah-
de-blah-de-blah'. We can read this as a harsh critique of war. We can also see it as a challenge
- a suggestion that the noble virtues of patriotism are a million miles away from the reality
of war. The fact that the soldier is referred to as 'he', backs up the notion that this
poem is a critique of war; the solider is not named because the poem is not about one
solider, it is about all soldiers. It’s about all war.
And now to the final line of the poem. Having questioned what he is doing and why, the soldier
runs on, 'his terror's touchy dynamite'. Despite his objections, the soldier has become a killing
machine, and this alliterative metaphor perfectly sums up the danger he can potentially inflict
upon others. So in terms of power and conflict, this is
a poem about the reality of war, and it compares well with ‘Exposure’, ‘The Charge of
the Light Brigade’, ‘Remains’, ‘War Photographer’ and ‘Kamikaze’.
But which other poems would you compare it with, and why? Put your comments in the comments
section.
For more on this poem, pick up a copy of Mr Bruff’s Guide to Power and Conflict poetry,
available exclusively in eBook form and linked in the description. If you like this shorter
style of analysis video do give it a thumbs up and I will make some more, but remember:
this video isn’t intended to tell you everything you need to know about the poem – it’s
a recap for revision purposes. For the full lesson, check out the video linked here on-screen.