Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes

'Stumbling' - Adjective, desperate, panic, lack of control
'Green hedge' - Noun, repetition, metaphor, goal, safety, hope
Free verse, no regular rhythm or rhyme - Unexpected, no structure to soldier's thoughts
'Smacking the belly out the air' - Personification, impact, violent, winded
'Running - raw' - Alliteration, danger, panic, sore legs
3 stanzas - Short, happens fast
'He lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm' - Simile, unable to use, useless as a broken arm, weighted down, doesn't help
''Dazzled with rifle fire' - Bullets shining, blur to soldier
'Patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye' - Metaphor, love for country washing away
'In raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy' - Repetition, uncomfortable, rough fabric rubbing, alliteration, 'h' hard breathing, out of breath
'Suddenly' - Adverb, urgency, dropped in
Represents all soldiers
'Sweating like molten iron' - Simile, hot sweat, fatigue
Internal conflict
'-' - Reflecting, thinking
'Clockwork' - Adjective, trying to work out why he's here, how long has he been there?
'In bewilderment then he almost stopped' - Couldn't actually stop, why is he here?
'Statuary in mid-stride.' - Stopped, statue, full stop, pause
'Jumped up in the dark and runs' - Clueless, no clear direction, woke up in the dark, confused
'Was he the hand pointing that second?' - Rhetorical question, time stopped completely, just him in that second
'Shot-slashed' - Alliteration, harsh, speeds up
1st stanza - Action, 2nd stanza - Slows down, thinking, longer lines
Influenced heavily by Wilfred Owen
'Yellow hare that rolled like a flame' - Simile, nature, other victims
'Crawled in a threshing circle' - Verbs, desperate
'King, honour, human, etcetera' - Rule of three, doesn't matter, no time to think
'Its eyes standing out' - Fear, asking for help, it, not alive
'Plunged past' - Alliteration
'Dropped like luxuries' - All about survival, doesn't care
'Alarm' - Noun, woken up
'Blue crackling air' - Smoke, gun fire, sad
'His terror's touchy dynamite' - Metaphor, explode at any minute
WW1
'Bayonet' - Used as last resort
Father was war Veteran
37 million war casualties

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Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes

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	Created by Samira Choudhury over 7 years ago