The man he killed poem analysis. The Man He Killed Analysis 2022-10-14
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The Man He Killed is a poem written by Thomas Hardy in 1902. The poem is written from the perspective of a soldier who has just killed another man in battle. The soldier reflects on the man he killed and the circumstances that led to their confrontation.
The poem begins with the soldier stating that the man he killed was someone he "met but yesterday." This suggests that the soldier did not personally know the man he killed and that their meeting was purely a result of the circumstances of war. The soldier then goes on to describe the man he killed as "poor devil," implying that the man was not a willing participant in the conflict and was just caught up in the violence of war.
The soldier then reflects on the irony of their situation, stating that "if he thought he'd 'a' done as much / At such a time, he might have saved his life." This line suggests that the soldier believes that if the man he killed had acted in self-defense and killed him first, he might have survived the confrontation. This highlights the random and unpredictable nature of war and the way in which it can bring people together in violent and unexpected ways.
As the poem continues, the soldier begins to question the reasons behind the conflict and the justification for the violence. He wonders why they are fighting and what they are fighting for, stating that "I shot him as he fled— / It was as if we were two ships, of course." This metaphor suggests that the soldier and the man he killed were like two ships passing in the night, each on their own course and with no personal connection to one another. The soldier's use of the word "of course" implies that he sees the violence of war as a given and that he does not question the necessity of it.
The final stanza of the poem is particularly powerful as the soldier grapples with the guilt and sadness he feels over the man he killed. He states that he "dream[s] of the old-stone savage" and that he "could see his face," suggesting that the man he killed haunts him in his dreams. The soldier also describes the man as "pitted-faced," possibly implying that the man had scars or other physical markings from the violence of war.
In conclusion, The Man He Killed is a powerful and thought-provoking poem that reflects on the human cost of war and the way in which it can bring people together in unexpected and tragic ways. Through the perspective of the soldier, Hardy highlights the random and meaningless nature of violence and the way in which it can leave a lasting impact on those who are involved in it.
The Man I Killed Poem Analysis
The structure of the poem is set out as a nursery rhyme so the first thing you expect to read is a happy poem, but you get taken by surprise when you realise the poem is a very depressing poem, about war, because when you imagine war you become sad. While the soldier killed that man, he cannot think about whether the solder has a family or whether or not he is a good man. In that stanza he tries to show that people should not be judged for what they see or are around because no one is perfect. Is there any onomatopoeia and alliteration used? He inherited the love for reading and books from his mother. According to the speaker, all those who are fighting on the front line is not because of their love for the infantry, but some of them are here to earn money.
The poem beautifully and implicitly illustrates the class difference in the society. The adults announce the war, and it is youth who suffers. This distant war, in which the British army acted as colonial police and whose objectives were unclear to many fighting men, gave rise to the moral dilemmas this poem addresses. The narrator explains his haunted thoughts about killing a man in the war. A dramatic monologue, the poem's speaker recounts having to kill a man in war with whom he had found himself "face to face. Latest answer posted September 8, 2018, 11:38 am UTC 1 educator answer In the third stanza, the speaker tries to justify his actions.
She has taught writing at North Carolina State University and the University of Tennessee. The theme of the two works are closely related to fear and guilt. Hardy finds it difficult to find a justified reason for this killing. The poem is spoken in first person, using the soldier as the speaker. Class Difference and Society: It is often thought that everyone on the battlefield is equal; everyone has to face the same consequences, but this is not a fact. Living in London, during the period of his early career, he was quit predisposed by the works of Robert Browning, Charles Swinburne, and Charles Darwin. However he eventually comes to the conclusion that he had to because it was his foe.
I took the most inspiration for my formal poem, which I found most difficult to write. While in other circumstances, they would sit together in a bar and would have shared a drink. In his death, the man is still a stranger to him. Each stanza expresses a different idea, except the first and the last ones. ANS : The poet had to kill his adversary in the war before he put an end to his life. Posted on 2009-04-23 by a guest.
The speaker, after a long thought, mentions one reason for killing the man. The poem thus highlights the senselessness and wasteful tragedy of human conflict and is specifically thought to have been inspired by the events of the Boer War in South Africa. Then the soldier telling the story has to shoot the person staring at him. He uses undetailed imagery in the second stanza, "And staring face to face, I shot at him as he at me. There is no magnificent oversimplification of war in the poem regarding grandeur, martyr and battle scenes.
Posted on 2015-08-13 by a guest. In stanza two, the language does not sound like his own; perhaps it is the soldier telling the story, it is fairly casual and is mostly quite conversational. In the poem, "The Man He Killed," By Thomas Hardy; he illustrates a story of a man who questions his own actions of doing harm to another person. Its light-hearted rhyme and meter contrasts a bleak anti-war theme, which helps emphasize Hardy's an ironic critique of British foreign warfare. We see the change of rhythm in the poem. Thomas Hardy would always get depressed during wars. How did the poet treat his rival soldier if they had met at an old inn? As the narrator reveals himself to be the man who walked away after landing the shot we see a glimpse into how war has manipulated and dehumanised his mind.
The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy Summary and Analysis
Guilt: After returning from the war, the speaker is hunted by the thought of the war especially killing of the innocent people who came on the front line just to earn some money for their family. Posted on 2012-02-23 by a guest. In order to convince himself, the speaker, two times, speaks that his victim was his enemy. The poem is written by Thomas Hardy in 1902 at the time of the Second Boer War fought between the British and the Dutch settlers of the Boer republics. They do not hate eachother peronally, but due to their countries at war and to support the family as stated they enlisted.
This poem is a quatrain, which is balanced and each stanza is 4 lines, so it sounds regular. For instance, in the inn or bar and would share some drink. The sound of gun is everywhere. It seems alright to kill because in War you are either friend or foe. Humanity and civilization demand cooperation and harmony among human beings and these thoughts are well-reflected in this poem. Was out of work — had sold his traps — The fact they were both out of work seems to make them vulnerable for enlisting. When you read these lines aloud to yourself, you should notice two things: rhythm and rhyme.
English novelist Thomas Hardy primarily wrote poetry in his later years, and his poems reflect many of the same political, sexual and moral themes he explored in prose. Then he informs the reader that he will be telling a story about how he killed a old man. The poem is written in a conversational tone, with speech marks included, making us feel that the soldier is telling us personally in an informal way, and debating with us to understand his action in killing his enemy. And killed him in his place. The poem consists of 5 stanzas each having four lines with regular rhyme.
