Explication Of The Man He Killed

Explication of "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy

1. "Had he and I but met

2. By some old ancient inn,

3. We should have sat us down to wet

4. Right many a nipperkin!

5. "But ranged as infantry,

6. And staring face to face,

7. I shot at him as he at me.

8. And killed him in his place.

9. "I shot him dead because-

10. Because he was my foe.

Throughout the poem it is easy to tell that the flow of this poem is non-traditional, for example, Hardy expresses hesitation in lines one and two of the third stanza. The form of the poem is five quatrains written in iambic trimeter with an end rhyme scheme of: (a,b,a,b,c,d,c,d,e,f,) "met"--a, "inn"--b, "wet"--a, "nipperkin!"--b, "infantry"--c, "face"--d, "me"--c, "place"--d, "because"--e, "foe"--f.

Hardy makes use of alliteration in lines nine and ten by repeating the word "because." He does this to show hesitation in his answer to the question why he shot him.

The author does not mention any symbolism in this poem. However, he does mention one simile, only in the second stanza by using, "I shot at him as he at me." The tone Hardy uses in the poem might include, hesitant, remorseful, or even detached. The setting might have taken place on a battlefield or in a war zone. The situation of the poem is Hardy contemplating on the irony presented by war.

When reading this poem a person might be confused about who the speaker is, because throughout the poem, Hardy speaks in first person such as, "Had he and I but met." However if a person considers the title, he or she might notice that it is written in third person. The author leaves it to the reader's imagination as to