1. What do these words imply about the poem?
Explain the effects of writers’ methods, using relevant subject terminology. (Level /4)
Examine interpretations of writers’ methods, using subject terminology effectively. (Level )
Judiciously use subject terminology to support insightful analysis. (Level 6- 8/9)
bayonet’
‘clod’
‘patriotic’
‘bewilderment’
‘statuary’
‘furrows’
‘threshing’
What do these words imply about the poem?

2. Explain the effects of writers’ methods, using relevant subject terminology. (Level 2-3- 3/4)
Examine interpretations of writers’ methods, using subject terminology effectively. (Level )
Judiciously use subject terminology to support insightful analysis. (Level 6- 8/9)
Bayonet Charge describes the experience of 'going over-the-top'. This was when soldiers hiding in trenches were ordered to 'fix bayonets' (attach the long knives to the end of their rifles) and climb out of the trenches to charge an enemy position twenty or thirty metres away.

3. Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes was a 20th-century English poet. His father served in and survived World War One, and Ted spent two years as a mechanic in the RAF before going to university. ‘Bayonet Charge’ was published in 1957.

4. You’ve got to know what the poem’s 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.

5. Bayonet Charge 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 then he almost stopped - In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations Was he the hand pointing that second? He was running Like a man who has jumped up in the dark and runs Listening between his footfalls for the reason Of his still running, and his foot hung like Statuary in mid-stride. Then the shot-slashed furrows Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame And crawled in a threshing circle, its mouth wide Open silent, its eyes standing out. He plunged past with his bayonet toward the green hedge, King, honour, human dignity, etcetera Dropped like luxuries in a yelling alarm To get out of that blue crackling air His terror’s touchy dynamite. TED HUGHES

6. Learn about the form, structure and language
FORM – The poem uses enjambment and caesura, and has lines of uneven length. This creates an irregular rhythm, which mirrors the soldier struggling to run through the mud. The narrator uses the pronoun “he” rather then naming the soldier to keep him anonymous. It suggests that he is a universal figure who could represent any young soldier.
STRUCTURE – The poem starts in media res (in the middle of the action) and covers the soldier’s movements and thoughts over a short space of time. The first stanza sees the soldier acting on instinct, but time seems to stand still in the second stanza, when the soldier begins to think about his situation. In the final stanza, he gives up his thoughts and ideas and seems to have lost his humanity.

7. Learn about the form, structure and language
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.
NATURAL IMAGERY – The repeated references to the “green hedge” and the mention of “field” and “threshing circle” show the natural, agricultural setting of war. The painful image of the “yellow hare” reminds the reader of how the natural world is also damaged by war.

8. Remember the feelings and attitudes in the poem
TERROR – The poem challenges patriotism and shows how desperate terror becomes the overriding emotion in battle. The soldier is driven forward by fear rather then any more noble motive.
CONFUSION – The soldier is physically disorientated by the gunfire, but he’s also questioning what he’s doing there at all.
Dress sense, self-respect, human dignity etcetera dropped like luxuries.

9. (Yellow has connotations of cowardice and sickness)
Explain the effects of writers’ methods, using relevant subject terminology. (Level /4)
Examine interpretations of writers’ methods, using subject terminology effectively. (Level )
Judiciously use subject terminology to support insightful analysis. (Level 6- 8/9)
powerful verb
(This verb creates an image of startled movement. It could be symbolic of death.)
colour
(Yellow has connotations of cowardice and sickness)
a yellow hare that rolled like a flame
the beauty of nature
(This is being severely affected by humankind and its war. This symbolises the destruction of, not just men, but also of the very thing man should be protecting)
simile
('Flame' has connotations of beauty, power but also of pain and danger. The hare could be symbolic of a warning sign for the charging soldier)

10. Repetition and the meanings of these words. Powerful/meaningful verbs
Explain the effects of writers’ methods, using relevant subject terminology. (Level /4)
Examine interpretations of writers’ methods, using subject terminology effectively. (Level )
Judiciously use subject terminology to support insightful analysis. (Level 6- 8/9)
In your pair, label your copy of the poem to explore how language and structure creates meaning.
Consider:
Repetition and the meanings of these words.
Powerful/meaningful verbs
Personification
Similes
Questioning
Challenge: Explore elements of structure, especially enjambment and punctuation.

11. Focusing on these lines in particular?
1. Annotate the poem in your own words. What is actually happening during each line of the poem?
Focusing on these lines in particular?
“In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations
Was he the hand pointing that second?”
2. What do you think the word “cold” means here?
3. What do you think the word “clockwork” means here?
4. What impression do you get from the two words together?
5. What do you think the author is referring to when he writes ‘the stars and the nations’

12. 6. Complete the following passages with your own ideas:
In the second stanza, Ted Hughes creates the impression of the soldier
……………………………………………………………………………………….
: “In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations/ Was he the hand pointing that second?”
The words ‘cold clockwork’ implies that ……………………………………………………..;
that ……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Further to this, the mention of ‘the stars’ seems to suggest ………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
The soldier is realising that ……………………………………………………………………..
The mention of ‘the nations’ refers to ………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Hughes may possibly be suggesting that the soldier is
……………………………………………… , which is …………………………………………...
Hughes could be emphasising ………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

13. It’s a complex and challenging extract: the second stanza sees almost a slowing or a freeze-frame of the soldier charging as his final thoughts occur and he begins to question his existence.
“cold clockwork”
the two words together gave a sense of time being uncaring.
“the nations”
the universe
conflict between countries, or war.

14. In the second stanza, Ted Hughes creates the impression of the soldier questioning why he is there: “In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations/ Was he the hand pointing that second?”
The words ‘cold clockwork’ suggest that time will move on whatever happens to this soldier; that it is unfeeling and doesn’t care.
Further to this, the mention of ‘the stars’ seems to suggest the universe, backing up the idea that time is moving on, whatever happens on Earth at that moment. The soldier is realising that his life is very small in comparison with the universe. The mention of ‘the nations’ suggests the countries on Earth which are at war with one another.
Hughes may possibly be suggesting that the soldier is actually having an existential crisis in this split-second, which is ironic as he now almost certainly is facing death. Hughes could be emphasising here how pointless our lives really are as humans when we are so tiny in the universe and the history of time. The fact that war has made life even shorter is the cause of anger for Hughes, I think.

15. A) Now choose the lines that you think are the most interesting or powerful and analyse the ideas and language. Think about what the poet is trying to say to you.
B) Consider why you chose those lines and what you think of this poem compared to the other poems that we have read so far this term.

16. Quotation Language Device? Comment His terror’s touchy dynamite
In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations
Was he the hand pointing that second?
The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye
Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest
raw-seamed hot khaki
King, honour, human dignity, etcetera
Dropped like luxuries

17. Go a step further and give a personal response
Have a go at answering these questions to help you come up with your own ideas about the poem:
Q1. How does the middle stanza differ from the other two stanzas?
Q2. How does the speaker show the soldier changing between the start and the
end of the poem?
Q3. How is natural imagery used in the poem to emphasise the horror of the
soldier’s situation?
Q4. What does the poem suggest about the poet’s attitude to war?
Effects of conflict, reality of war, fear ...
This poem examines the deadly effects and realities of war – ‘Exposure’ and
‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ do similar things. You could also compare the
soldier’s fear with that of the narrator in ‘The Prelude’.
KEY
THEMES

18. Challenge: Use subject terminology throughout your explanations.
Explain the effects of writers’ methods, using relevant subject terminology. (Level /4)
Examine interpretations of writers’ methods, using subject terminology effectively. (Level )
Judiciously use subject terminology to support insightful analysis. (Level 6- 8/9)
Statement: Hughes’ presentation of the speaker in ‘Bayonet Charge’ is more effective than the men in ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’.
Discuss this statement by analysing the writers’ methods in both poems, and their effectiveness.
Challenge: Use subject terminology throughout your explanations.

19. Bayonet Charge is more effective
Charge of the Light Brigade is more effective
Try to respond to the other side’s view with a direct comparison- whether this is about language or structure.