Study Notes on Ted Hughes' Bayonet Charge

Bayonet Charge: Ted Hughes

Ted Hughes depicts a soldier for a few seconds, desperately charging into battle.

A soldier is thrown into a battle completely unprepared.
He is clumsy and confused.
He pauses on the battlefield to consider his role in war.
A hare gets thrown in front of him from the fighting.
The hare is dying and suffering in front of him, which jolts him back to consciousness.
He realizes the danger he is in.
Reverts to his instincts and runs towards the battle in fear.

Ted Hughes was a famous war poet.
He never fought or saw war firsthand, having been a child during WWII and living in the post-war era.
His rural upbringing in Yorkshire is evident in his poetry, which often focuses on animals.
Hughes studied mythology and anthropology, influencing the imagery and themes in his work.
The poem is from the collection "The Hawk in the Rain," dedicated to his wife Sylvia Plath, and emphasizes real and symbolic lives of animals.
"Bayonet Charge" was published in 1957 but is set during WW1.
The poem serves as a means for Hughes to process the events of war, heavily influenced by the trauma of his father, who was one of seventeen Lancaster Fusiliers to survive the Gallipoli campaign.
The poem aims to highlight the brutality of trench warfare as a tribute to his father’s suffering and a warning to future generations.
Hughes was inspired by Wilfred Owen, who also depicted the grim realities of war without having firsthand experience.

The poem thrusts the listener into the action, relating to the idea of waking up.
The metaphor of waking up emphasizes the physical impact of the soldier's fear.
- "Suddenly he awoke and was running – raw"
- “In raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy.”
- "Stumbling across a field of clods towards a green hedge / That dazzled with rifle fire, hearing / Bullets smacking the belly out of the air –"
- “He lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm.”
- “The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye / Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest.”

In bewilderment, he almost stops, questioning his role:
- “In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations / Was he the hand pointing that second?”
- This illustrates the soldier’s existential terror.
- He runs "like a man who has jumped up in the dark and runs" trying to understand his actions.
The imagery of a "yellow hare" rolling like a flame introduces visceral, chaotic violence into the poem.
The description of the hare conveys helplessness, mirroring the soldier’s fears and complexities of warfare.

The poem is written in the third person singular, emphasizing individual experiences of war.
- This perspective allows readers to grasp the horrific reality of a singular soldier's experience, despite broader national motivations for war.
The isolation is underscored; the only human present is the soldier, enhancing the intensity of his suffering.
Hughes illustrates that even in an army, soldiers are fundamentally alone, primarily focused on self-preservation.

Hughes employs a chaotic structure to depict the disorder of war.
- Enjambment: Accelerates pace and reflects war's unyielding nature.
- The first stanza is primarily one sentence, mirroring the abruptness of battle.
- Caesura: Creates pauses, slowing down the reader and forcing contemplation on the horrors of war.
The contrast between fast-paced enjambment and slow-paced caesura emphasizes deeper philosophical questions surrounding conflict.

Repetition: Use of the word “raw” highlights the soldier’s suffering, underscoring emotional and mental breakdown.
Imagery and Metaphor: Visuals of the chaos of war are evident in lines like:
- “The patriotic tear… Sweating like molten iron.”
- The dehumanizing imagery blurs the lines between man and violence, adding gravity to suffering.
The rifle is described as “numb as a smashed arm,” reinforcing the soldier’s disconnection from his role.

The hare symbolizes the broader suffering of soldiers caught in war.
The explicit violence against the hare highlights the soldier's emotional numbness, jolting him into action.
- Personification of Nature: The air is described in human terms, capturing the robbery of peace by war.
Hughes paints a stark juxtaposition against peaceful pastoral images that have transformed into battlegrounds.

Both Hughes and Owen convey the harsh realities and psychological horrors of war, though Hughes borrowed elements from Owen’s expressions:
- Common themes, structures, and imagery.
- Use of dactylic rhythms, metaphors, and similes portraying the raw experience of soldiers.

Charge of the Light Brigade: Critique on war leadership and soldiers' obedience.
- Hughes challenges the concept of honor unlike Tennyson, who glorifies it.
Exposure by Owen: Similar themes of patriotism concealing war's true nature.
- Both poems emphasize soldiers’ mental struggles during war.
Remains by Simon Armitage: Focuses on psychological impacts post-war, while Hughes centers on the immediate chaos of the battlefield.

"Bayonet Charge" serves not only as a reflection of war but also as an exploration of personal struggles against broader existential themes influenced by historical antecedents, nature, and individual remorse.
Hughes’ use of vivid imagery, chaotic structure, and emotional resonance makes this poem a powerful critique and remembrance of war.