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Bayonet Charge, By Langston Hughes

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When considering how ideas about conflict are presented in Bayonet Charge by Hughes, we immediately think about The Charge of the Light Brigade by Tennyson. This is because they are different in many ways as their ideas contrast with each other significantly. For example, in Bayonet Charge, Hughes portrays the negativity and suffering in war by using the character of the scared and confused soldier. Whereas, in The Charge of the Light Brigade, Tennyson hides the reality of the terror of conflict by praising and cheering the soldiers.

The poem Bayonet charge begins with a sense of urgency and immediacy created by the adverb “Suddenly” that starts the poem in media res which thrusts the reader straight into the action without leaving a warning …show more content…

This represents the movement of the soldiers riding their horses bravely and confidently into the battle and this reflects the impression about the soldiers that Tennyson wanted to make obvious for the reader. However, we cannot be sure that the ideas Tennyson is conveying in his poem about the conflict being ‘glorious’ are what he actually thinks of war, keeping in mind that he was poet laureate which meant that his poems were well-known to authority so maybe he could not portray his actual thoughts about conflict in his poems in fear of being attacked by society since everything about war was mostly propaganda during the Crimean …show more content…

The repetition of the phrase "someone had blundered" highlights the tragedy of war and that Tennsyon is trying to hint at his opinion about the stupidity of those above and giving orders as he might think they are causing the suffering of the soldiers by creating unnecessary conflict, whilst the cheerful, positive description of "the noble six hundred" creates a sense of heroism and sacrifice, which are normally the connotations of being a soldier and are the main ideas that are being conveyed in the poem since it is used as propaganda for future conflicts where soldiers will be needed. It would make the readers feel the need to join the army due to the positive imagery and descriptions mentioned in the

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