Poets often use language in powerful ways to express their thoughts and feelings about conflict. Two poems that show different ways of presenting conflict are Ted Hughes’ Bayonet Charge and Wilfred Owen’s Exposure. Both poets write about the experiences of soldiers in war, but they approach the subject in different ways. While Bayonet Charge focuses on the immediate chaos and terror of a soldier in the middle of a battle, Exposure shows the slow, painful suffering of soldiers waiting in the freezing cold trenches. In this essay, we will explore how these poets use language to express their feelings about war and conflict.

Bayonet Charge by Ted Hughes

In Bayonet Charge, Ted Hughes describes a soldier running across a battlefield. From the very beginning of the poem, we are thrown into the action: “Suddenly he awoke and was running.” This sudden start reflects how the soldier has no time to think or prepare. He is immediately thrown into the chaos of war. Hughes’ use of the word “Suddenly” shows how the soldier’s life has changed instantly, and now he must run for his survival.

Hughes uses a lot of vivid and sensory imagery in the poem to make the reader feel the physical and emotional stress the soldier is experiencing. For example, the soldier’s uniform is described as “raw-seamed hot khaki,”

making the reader imagine how uncomfortable and painful it is to be wearing heavy, rough clothes while running in battle. The phrase “sweating like molten iron from the center of his chest” compares the soldier’s sweat to hot, burning metal. This simile shows how intense the physical effort of

running is and suggests that the soldier feels like he is being burned from the inside out. The comparison to iron also suggests that the soldier is becoming more like a machine than a human being, as the war turns him into a tool for fighting rather than a person with feelings and thoughts.

Another powerful image in the poem is the “yellow hare” that “rolled like a flame” in the third stanza. This image of a small, scared animal caught in the middle of the battle reflects the soldier’s own fear and vulnerability. Just like the hare, the soldier is fragile and powerless in the face of the

violence around him. The use of the word “yellow” can be associated with cowardice or fear, showing how the soldier might feel terrified and helpless.

Hughes also uses language to show the emotional confusion the soldier is going through. The soldier’s thoughts are described as “luxuries,” things

that he can no longer afford. In war, there is no room for deep thinking or reflection; the only thing that matters is survival. This shows how war strips away the soldier’s humanity, turning him into a tool for fighting rather than someone who can think and feel freely.

The structure of the poem also adds to the sense of chaos and confusion. The irregular line lengths and the lack of a clear rhyme scheme make the

poem feel disjointed and unpredictable, just like the experience of being in battle. The use of enjambment (when sentences continue onto the next line without a pause) creates a sense of speed and urgency, reflecting the soldier’s desperate rush through the battlefield.

Exposure by Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen’s Exposure presents a very different view of conflict. Instead of focusing on the immediate chaos of battle, Exposure looks at the slow, painful suffering of soldiers who are waiting in the trenches during World

War I. Owen shows how the soldiers are not only fighting against the enemy but also against the harsh weather and the feeling of hopelessness.

From the very beginning of the poem, Owen uses language to emphasize how cold and cruel the environment is: “Our brains ache, in the merciless

iced east winds that knive us.” Here, the wind is personified as something that actively harms the soldiers, like a knife stabbing into them. This shows how the weather is as much an enemy as the opposing army. The use of the word “merciless” suggests that nature has no pity for the soldiers, and they are completely at its mercy.

Owen also uses repetition to show the endlessness of the soldiers’ suffering. The phrase “But nothing happens” is repeated several times throughout the poem, showing how the soldiers are stuck in a cycle of

waiting and suffering with no end in sight. This creates a sense of futility and frustration, as the soldiers are forced to endure the freezing cold and the fear of death without being able to take any action.

The poem also uses alliteration, such as in the line “Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence.” The repetition of the “s” sound mimics

the hissing of bullets flying through the air, creating a tense and threatening atmosphere. This shows how even in moments of silence, the soldiers are always under the threat of danger.

One of the most striking things about Exposure is how Owen portrays the soldiers’ emotional numbness. The repeated suffering has left them feeling disconnected from the world around them. They are described as “wearied,” and their faces are “like a dull rumor of some other war.” This suggests that the soldiers no longer feel fully alive; they are like ghosts, detached from their own emotions and from the world they once knew.

Owen also uses religious imagery to show how the soldiers have lost their faith in the world and in God. In the final stanza, the soldiers imagine that they will die in the cold and that the gates of heaven will be “closed” to them. This shows how the war has destroyed their belief in a just and caring higher power, leaving them to suffer alone in a cruel and indifferent world.

The structure of Exposure also reflects the slow, dragging nature of the soldiers’ suffering. Each stanza is long and slow-paced, with many lines ending in ellipses (…) to create a sense of unfinished thoughts and

unresolved feelings. This reflects how the soldiers’ situation feels never-ending, as they wait for death or action that never comes. The half-rhyme scheme (where words almost rhyme but not quite) adds to the sense of incompleteness and hopelessness, as nothing in the soldiers’ lives feels fully resolved.

Comparison of the Two Poems

Both Bayonet Charge and Exposure deal with the theme of war and conflict, but they do so in different ways. While Bayonet Charge focuses on the immediate chaos and terror of a soldier in the middle of battle, Exposure looks at the long-term suffering of soldiers who are waiting for death in the cold trenches.

In Bayonet Charge, Hughes uses fast-paced, chaotic language to show how the soldier is overwhelmed by fear and confusion. The poem is full of vivid

and intense imagery that puts the reader in the soldier’s shoes, making us feel the physical and emotional strain of being in battle. The structure of the poem is disjointed and unpredictable, reflecting the soldier’s frantic state of mind.

In contrast, Exposure is slower and more reflective. Owen’s language emphasizes the cold and endless suffering of the soldiers, using repetition and alliteration to create a sense of monotony and hopelessness. The structure of the poem reflects the slow passage of time and the unresolved nature of the soldiers’ fate.

Both poems show the dehumanizing effects of war, but they focus on different aspects of the experience. Bayonet Charge highlights the chaos

and fear of being in battle, while Exposure emphasizes the emotional numbness and hopelessness that come from prolonged suffering. In both poems, the language and structure work together to express the poets’ feelings about the horrors of war.