POETRY SPOT - THE MAN HE KILLED

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Thomas Hardy c 1910-1915

Thomas Hardy (1840 – 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain such as those from his native South West England.

While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, he gained fame as the author of novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895). During his lifetime, Hardy's poetry was acclaimed by younger poets (particularly the Georgians) who viewed him as a mentor.

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The Man He Killed

Thomas Hardy

"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 as 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."

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Paraphrase:

"If only we'd met 

in some old pub, 

we would have sat down 

and shared many a beer!

"But I met him on the battlefield, 

each of us aiming at the other. We both took aim and fired, 

but he missed, while my shot killed him where he stood.

"I shot him dead because... 

well, because he was the enemy, 

that's all. He was the one 

I was obviously supposed to shoot.

"Then again, he'd probably joined his army 

in similar circumstances to me, on a kind of whim. 

He was probably out of work at the time, just like I was. 

He'd probably had to sell his belongings—why else he would have enlisted.

"Yup, war is a very strange thing! 

You end up shooting someone 

who you'd get along well with in a bar—

buy a drink, even give money if he needed it."