Bayonet Charge And Exposure Essay
I have chosen to compare ‘Exposure’ by Wilfred Owen and ‘Bayonet Charge’ by Ted Hughes.
Owen uses two powerful similes in Exposure. The first being in line 7, equating the harsh wind to ‘twitching agonies of men’ is a gruesome comparison that conveys a natural, merciless phenomenon in terms of vivid human suffering.
In complete contrast with the reality of the poem’s setting, the touch of snow is equated with an image of lying under a blossom-laden tree in England. The home fires contain glowing coals described as ‘crusted dark-red jewels’, this actually signifies a dying fire, a symbol of people’s waning interest in the fate of the exposed soldiers. That the ‘doors are all closed: on us’ is also symbolic, representing the total loss of the memory of the men and that …show more content…
The soldier now feels a sense of “bewilderment” as he nearly stops and begins to think things through, as he is running. But what is evident in this second stanza is that we now see a man who is able to think logically for himself. The use of the metaphor in “cold clockwork,” as well as being alliterative, allows us to see past the soldier and to the man.
All of this then progresses into the third stanza. He sees a “yellow hare” but one is left to consider whether this in itself, is a metaphor for something else. Is it a real animal coming up from the ground he is running and being startled, or does he consider the soldier, or even the reader, in this thinking state, to be that yellow, cowardly hare. (Connotations - Associations)
Hughes is trying to make the reader think about how they view warfare and the impact it has on the animal world, the world of agriculture and the creation that we share.
Then as the poem progresses it turns inti something even more stranger. His only desire is to “get out of that crackling air,” the air whistling with bullets coming the other way, what he calls “his terror’s touchy
Owen uses two powerful similes in Exposure. The first being in line 7, equating the harsh wind to ‘twitching agonies of men’ is a gruesome comparison that conveys a natural, merciless phenomenon in terms of vivid human suffering.
In complete contrast with the reality of the poem’s setting, the touch of snow is equated with an image of lying under a blossom-laden tree in England. The home fires contain glowing coals described as ‘crusted dark-red jewels’, this actually signifies a dying fire, a symbol of people’s waning interest in the fate of the exposed soldiers. That the ‘doors are all closed: on us’ is also symbolic, representing the total loss of the memory of the men and that …show more content…
The soldier now feels a sense of “bewilderment” as he nearly stops and begins to think things through, as he is running. But what is evident in this second stanza is that we now see a man who is able to think logically for himself. The use of the metaphor in “cold clockwork,” as well as being alliterative, allows us to see past the soldier and to the man.
All of this then progresses into the third stanza. He sees a “yellow hare” but one is left to consider whether this in itself, is a metaphor for something else. Is it a real animal coming up from the ground he is running and being startled, or does he consider the soldier, or even the reader, in this thinking state, to be that yellow, cowardly hare. (Connotations - Associations)
Hughes is trying to make the reader think about how they view warfare and the impact it has on the animal world, the world of agriculture and the creation that we share.
Then as the poem progresses it turns inti something even more stranger. His only desire is to “get out of that crackling air,” the air whistling with bullets coming the other way, what he calls “his terror’s touchy