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Bayonet Charge - Coggle Diagram
Bayonet Charge
Individual Experiences
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The only other living thing is a "yellow hare" that gruesomely crawls "in a threshing circle". Focusing on a single animal mirrors the soldier's isolation and emphasises how far he is from any help or comfort
The soldier feels he's ultimately insignificant in the "cold clockwork of the stars and the nations". Although he understands that he's part of a wider picture, he feels completely isolated from it.
Negative Emotions. Fear
Beginning the poem is medias res (i the middle of things) immediately alerts the reader to the soldier's fear. The opening description, "Suddenly he awoke and was running", hints that the soldier is not really in control of his body- it's like he's trapped in a nightmare
The soldier's terror is shown by repeated references to his sweat- a bodily fluid associated with fear. Even his rifle is "numb", suggesting that he's almost paralysed with fear
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About
The poem focuses on a single soldier's experience of a charge towards enemy lines. It describes his thoughts and actions as he tries to stay alive. The soldier's overriding emotion and motivation is fear, which has replaced the more patriotic ideals that he held before the violence began.
Natural Imagery
The repeated references to the "green hedge" and the mention of a "field" and "threshing circle" show the natural, agriculture setting the war. The painful image of the "yellow hare" reminds the reader of how the natural world is also damaged by war,
Violent Imagery
There is some shocking imagery which brings home the sights and sounds of war. This helps to strongly convey the sense of confusion and fear
Figurative language
The poem includes powerful figurative language to emphasise the horror and physical pain of the charge, and also to question the point of war.
Bayonet Charge focuses on a nameless soldier in the First World War (1914-18). It describes the experience of 'going over-the-top'. This was when soldiers hiding in trenches were ordered to 'fix bayonets' and climb out of the trenches to charge an enemy position. The aim was to capture the enemy trench. The poem describes how this process transforms a soldier from a living thinking person into a dangerous weapon of war
The mix of caesura and enjambment in the poem adds a chaotic tone to show the confusion of war and the inner turmoil of the soldier
The language of the poem seems to juxtapose natural
animal images and human machine, they are at conflict.