Contents: Poem Text Poem Summary Themes Style Critical Overview Criticism Sources For Further Study |
Thomas Hardy 1902
Hardy is probably best remembered for his novels The Mayor of Casterbridge and Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Having enjoyed the success of novel writing, which brought him acclaim and wealth, Hardy turned to poetry later in his life. His first book of poetry, The Wessex Poems, was not published until 1898 when he was fifty-eight. In the following thirty years he wrote nearly one thousand poems. “The Man He Killed,” first published in 1902, has a message that is timeless; its subject matter is the curious nature of war that allows for such behavior as killing a man with whom, under more mundane circumstances, you would sit sharing drinks. The poem itself comes to no great or deep understanding of war, nor does it propogandize against war. It simply poses a question which, it seems, the speaker does not intend to answer. The matter-of-fact tone of the poem may serve as a contrast to the seriousness of the situation but it may also indicate that the speaker of the poem chooses to maintain a certain level of emotional distance even while considering disturbing subject matter.
