Compare Bayonet Charge and Exposure: Grade 9 Thesis & Quotes (AQA)
Best for: The physical vs. psychological reality of war, nature as a hostile force, and the loss of individual purpose. If the exam poem is Bayonet Charge, compare to Exposure to show how the frantic, “sudden” panic of a charge contrasts with the slow, “merciless” agony of waiting. If the exam poem is Exposure, compare to Bayonet Charge to show how both poets reject heroic myths, replacing them with a vision of soldiers as victims of both human “clockwork” and natural indifference.
Elite Thesis:
“While Hughes captures the visceral, adrenaline-fueled stasis of a soldier caught in a singular moment of frantic action, Owen explores the monotonous, psychological erosion of men trapped in a state of perpetual waiting, with both poets presenting nature not as a backdrop, but as a primary, dehumanizing antagonist that renders human conflict futile.”
Quick Comparison Grid (The “Ninja Cheat Sheet”)
| Element | Bayonet Charge (Hughes) | Exposure (Owen) |
|---|---|---|
| When? | In medias res—the sudden, frantic charge | The “long” wait—endless nights in the trenches |
| Key Image | “Sweating like molten iron” / “Yellow hare” | “Merciless iced east winds” / “Pale flakes with fingering stealth” |
| The Enemy | The “cold clockwork” of fate/politics | The “melancholy army” of Dawn and the freezing air |
| Tone | Explosive, breathless, panicked | Numb, weary, hallucinatory |
| Structure | Fragmented by caesura—mimics gasping for air | Cyclical refrains—mimics the “loop” of waiting |
| The Result | Patriotism is “dropped like a luxury” | “For love of God seems dying”—loss of faith |
1. The Experience of Time: The Dash vs. The Wait (Pace of Suffering)
Bayonet Charge:
- Hughes uses in medias res (“Suddenly he awoke and was running”) to plunge the reader into a high-speed crisis. Time is compressed into a single, terrifying dash.
- The stasis in the second stanza (“He stopped… in what cold clockwork”) creates a jarring pause where time seems to stand still as the soldier realizes his own insignificance.
- Elite Link: The “touchy dynamite” of the ending suggests that time has run out—the soldier is a ticking bomb, defined only by the immediate second of survival.
Exposure:
- Owen uses repetition and refrains (“But nothing happens”) to stretch time out. The poem feels “long” because the suffering is repetitive and stagnant.
- The present participle verbs (“watching,” “weaving,” “fingering”) create a sense of ongoing, never-ending action that leads nowhere.
- Elite Link: The transition from the trenches to “ghosts dragging home” in dreams shows how time has fractured the soldiers’ minds—they are living in a psychological “no man’s land” between life and death.
Explore: Hughes focuses on the intensity of a single moment, while Owen focuses on the extensity of endless duration—both show that war distorts a soldier’s perception of time until “reality” disappears.
2. Nature as the Antagonist: The Slashed Furrows vs. The Iced Winds
Bayonet Charge:
- Nature is collateral damage: the “shot-slashed furrows” and the “yellow hare” show how human violence destroys the natural world.
- The hare’s “threshing circle” mirrors the soldier’s own frantic, trapped movement—both are victims of a “machinery” (war) that has turned the earth into a death trap.
- Elite Link: The “green hedge” is not a symbol of hope but a “dazzle” of gunfire—nature has been weaponized and stripped of its beauty.
Exposure:
- Nature is the primary executioner: Owen personifies the wind as “kniving” and the snowflakes as having “fingering stealth.” The weather is more organized and deadly than the human enemy.
- The “melancholy army” of Dawn shows that even the arrival of light brings no hope, only a new “massing” of cold.
- Elite Link: By framing nature as the “army,” Owen suggests that human conflict is a puny imitation of the true, elemental power of the world to erase human life.
Explore: In Bayonet Charge, nature is a victim of war; in Exposure, nature is the leader of the war—both poets use the natural world to highlight the “pity” and “futility” of human violence.
3. The Loss of Humanity: Machine vs. Ghost (Dehumanization)
Bayonet Charge:
- The soldier becomes mechanical: he is a “hand pointing that second” in a “cold clockwork.” He is a tool of the state, stripped of his “King, honour, human dignity.”
- The metaphor of “molten iron” sweat suggests he is being forged into a weapon—his human emotions are replaced by “terror’s touchy dynamite.”
- Elite Link: The soldier is reduced to “raw” instinct; he doesn’t think, he only “runs,” showing how war reverts humans to a pre-civilized, animalistic state.
Exposure:
- The soldiers become spectral: they are “ghosts,” their “eyes are ice,” and they are “shrivelling” into the mud. They are losing their physical and spiritual essence.
- The loss of faith (“For love of God seems dying”) shows the ultimate dehumanization—the war has not just broken their bodies, but their souls.
- Elite Link: The final image of the “burying-party” with their “shovels in shaking grasp” shows that even the act of mourning has become a numb, mechanical chore—humanity has been buried along with the corpses.
Explore: Hughes shows the physical transformation into a machine, while Owen shows the spiritual transformation into a ghost—both prove that war is an “inhuman” process.
Context Comparison (AO3 Power Move)
| Bayonet Charge (Hughes) | Exposure (Owen) |
|---|---|
| Written in 1957—Hughes was a post-war poet looking back at WWI through his father’s trauma. He is “imagining” the charge to de-romanticize it. | Written in 1917—Owen was a soldier-poet writing from the front lines. He is “witnessing” the reality to warn the public. |
| Influenced by the Modernist focus on the “moment” and the “image”—Hughes wants to capture the feeling of the charge. | Influenced by the Realist desire to tell the “truth” of the trenches—Owen wants to expose the futility of the wait. |
| Focuses on the individual’s existential crisis—the “why” of the charge in a world of “clockwork” politics. | Focuses on the collective suffering of the “we”—the shared agony of a generation “dying” in the cold. |
Elite Insight: Hughes uses the “charge” to show how war shatters the individual, while Owen uses the “wait” to show how war erases the generation—both are powerful anti-war statements that use the “pity of war” to challenge the “old Lie.”
Exam Sentence Starters
- “While Hughes captures the frantic, ‘sudden’ panic of a soldier in motion, Owen explores the ‘merciless’ and stagnant agony of men trapped in a state of perpetual waiting…”
- “Both poets personify nature as a hostile force: Hughes presents a ‘shot-slashed’ landscape that mirrors the soldier’s trauma, whereas Owen presents the weather as a ‘melancholy army’ that is more deadly than the human enemy…”
- “The ‘cold clockwork’ of Bayonet Charge can be compared to the ‘mind-forged manacles’ of institutional neglect in Exposure, as both poets suggest soldiers are mere cogs in a system that has abandoned them…”
- “Hughes’s use of the ‘yellow hare’ provides a visceral image of animalistic suffering that parallels the ‘shrivelling’ and ‘ghostly’ transformation of the soldiers in Owen’s Exposure…”
- “Contextually, Hughes’s retrospective ‘imagining’ of the charge serves to de-romanticize the very ‘heroism’ that Owen’s firsthand ‘witnessing’ sought to expose as a lethal futility…”
FAQs
What is the best poem to compare with Bayonet Charge?
Exposure is the best for contrasting action with waiting. You can also compare it to Charge of the Light Brigade for heroism vs. reality, or Remains for the moment of the kill.
What is the best poem to compare with Exposure?
Bayonet Charge is perfect for comparing different types of war-suffering. Alternatively, compare it to Storm on the Island for the power of nature, or Charge of the Light Brigade for futility vs. glory.
What is the best theme linking Bayonet Charge and Exposure?
The Reality of War and the Power of Nature—both poems show that the “glory” of war is a myth and that the environment is often the soldier’s true enemy.
What quotes should I compare between Bayonet Charge and Exposure?
- “Suddenly he awoke” (Bayonet) vs. “Our brains ache” (Exposure)—the contrast between sudden panic and long-term exhaustion.
- “Cold clockwork” (Bayonet) vs. “But nothing happens” (Exposure)—the feeling of being trapped in a system that doesn’t care.
- “Terror’s touchy dynamite” (Bayonet) vs. “For love of God seems dying” (Exposure)—the loss of humanity vs. the loss of faith.
How do I compare structure in Bayonet Charge and Exposure?
Hughes uses enjambment and caesura to create a breathless, erratic pace that mirrors a frantic run. Owen uses cyclical refrains and a regular stanza structure to create a monotonous, heavy pace that mirrors the endless wait. Both use form to enact the soldier’s physical experience.
What is a Grade 9 thesis for Bayonet Charge vs. Exposure?
“While Hughes captures the visceral, adrenaline-fueled stasis of a soldier caught in a singular moment of frantic action, Owen explores the monotonous, psychological erosion of men trapped in a state of perpetual waiting, with both poets presenting nature as a primary, dehumanizing antagonist.”
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