As we explore poetry in this unit, we are focusing on three themes: time, love and death. Here is a poem, written by Thomas Hardy, a British poet. Entitled "The Man He Killed," this poem presents death through war. Read it and share what feeling it arouses in you about war and its consequences."Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him and he at me,
And killed him in his place.
"I shot him dead because –
Because he was my foe,
Just so – my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although
"He thought he'd 'list perhaps,
Off-hand like – just as I –
Was out of work – had sold his traps –
No other reason why.
"Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown."
9 comments:
This poem really makes me think. It is amazing to wonder how and why we meet certain people at certain points in our life. There are many people who might have a totally different relationship with me, if only we had met in a different circumstance. In "The Man He Killed", the poet feels the same way. He wonders why he shoots a man who, in any other situation, he might have become friends with. It really makes me wonder why war exists. What is it really for? Pride? Land? Human beings, who belong to no one? This poem makes me not angry, but sad, imagining what could have been. I find myself, upon reading this poem, wanting a reset button. I suppose we can only hope that whoever reads this memoir might learn from the soldier's mistake, and see people as people, not merely as a pointless enemy.
This poem is very intriguing. I feel that war often kills people that could be friends. Always the conflict seen in war movies, when the opposing forces meet. They say they could be friends if only there was not a war. How sad is it that war does not allow for friendships or what might have been. Tis is the nature of war, I guess.
The poem makes me think about the innocents that are taken in war. I feel sorry for the potential friends that could be made.
This poem is very interesting. It makes me feel very sorry for the soldiers. They do not hate each other. It is like a job to them. They go out everyday and snuff a life out. I hope that in time others can learn from this piece on the fact that war is meaningless, and life is more precious then just a war.
This poem makes me think about how war sets men against other men, both sides believing they are right. The thought-provoking aspect is that the men that kill eachother could have been friends if they were born in the same area. It shows how war can overpower the natural comradeship shared by all men.
War can make anyone fight, even if the two would have been best friends. On the battle field, survival is the only thought in soldiers’ minds. War has killed many good men and women. On the battle field death does not discriminate between people, death takes whoever it can. IH
On the battlefield,soldiers are trained to see their enemy as a target, and not as a human. I believe in the novel The Things They Carried(underlined)...he questions himself as a man because when firing upon the enemy...he begins to think about the other soldier's family,life, and all that is connected to him. Survival is instinct when at war,I think. All other emotions have to be put aside because if they aren't, dementia could set in. It is the only thing that can help keep someone's morality that may be in question, intact.
This poem makes me realize how tragic war is. People are often judged based on sides they take rather than the true person they are. In this circumstance, the two enemies could have been best friends. There are times in life when someone's views need to be overlooked so that someone can see the person. These also relates to the recent presidential election. I believe people shouldn't be judged based on who they think would be the best president. Hopefully this poem can make people realize how some views don't define a person as much as they think they do.
The poem makes me realize the generalizations of war. Both men shot at each other because they were on opposing sides. War is a part of human nature. It has been for thousands of years. Wars have been fought because of religious beliefs, land, power, etc. But one thing is true: every soldier that fought in those wars were human. Their actions resulted in destruction but also freedom and democracy. - DE
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