Studied by 2 people
|”the patriotic tear that brimmed his eye sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest”
simile
trying to show that tears are useless now he is faced with the reality of conflict
“brimmed” and “sweating” have contrast as ‘brimmed’ has positive connations of something overflowing where as ‘sweating’ suggests exhaustion and despair
comparing him to ‘iron’ dehumanises the soldier and likens him to be something mechanical
“patriotic” suggests he feels he has to be there and now he feels a sense of regret
“bullets smacking the belly out of the air”
violent imagery
highlights the danger of war and conflict
shows everything is affected by war, including nature
“stumbling across a field of clods towards a green hedge that dazzled with rifle fire”
‘stumbling’ indicates the overall lack of control of soldiers in the conflict as they just have to accept the brutality of their fate
“suddenly he awoke and was running”
the verb ‘running’ suggests the soldiers are trying to escape the mental and physical struggles of the war and trying to regain some form of peace
highlights the urgency of the war
“he lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm”
simile
suggests the rifle is useless and therefore emphasises how vulnerable war has made soldiers
could also foreshadow the inevitable injuries of death faced by soldiers
“in what cold clockwork of the stars”
harsh alliteration
link to the “molten iron tear” as he is referred to as a machine, there for the use of others
“king honour human dignity, ecetera" dropped like luxuries”
listing
demonstrates how soldiers lose a sense of things that were once important to them as they are now faced with death
hughes emphasises the pointlessness of these things by the choice of the word “ecetera”
“the shot slashed furrows, threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame”
gruesome imagery
highlights the brutality if war
symbolic of how the soldiers are just as afraid as the hares
how does remains link to bayonet charge
“his bloody life in my bloody hands” - suggest the reality of the things soldiers have to cope with that us as the public are completely oblivious to
“the drink and drugs wont flush him out” - shows how the risks soldiers go through in conflicts are always there and the army are no help to the metal struggle of the sodiers - criticism
“tackle…tosses…mates” - suggest people see the soldiers lives and metal wellbeing as a game because they dont understand the reality of conflict
how does poppies link with bayonet charge
“ornamental stitch” - suggests that she cant be fixed because of the internal struggle of losing her son
|”steeled the softening of my face” - shows how she was supressing her emotions to try and be brave, links because it shows how people are told not to express their feelings, which in turn ends in agony
“released a songbird from its cage” - suggests how the feelings of soldiers and those close to soldiers need to be expressed so as a society we can learn from our mistakes and help those who struggle with conflict
Note 
Flashcard (93)