When I read this poem “war is kind” the first thing that came to my mind is irony. It is ironical how the author refer to war as being kind bearing in mind the violence, death, injuries and destruction war brings, war is not kind. This poem is written in an anti-war theme and can be traced back to the First World War. The author of this poem most likely purpose was to address the general public. The said war in the poem took place in dusty trenches, the author states that “thick air from tossed grenades and mustard gas, the ground rumbling with unseen tanks. Above, airplanes rumbling the sky, concealed below from the low-lying smoke. Then orders given to launch a raid, soldiers climb from the “safety” of their trench, dash across a smoke filled “no man’s land,” and attempt to make it to the enemy trenches – a slaughter surely awaited. “ . This war caused a lot of death that it was named a war of attrition. …show more content…
The speaker of this poem is a military person, who is in war, this is evident by the constant usage of brief verbiage.
Military officers in combat usually don’t have much time as they are more focused to accomplish their mission. Crane clearly demonstrates this because in most cases military don’t engage in long conversations thus they see passive speaking to be less than optimal. The author of this poem divides it into two parts, the first part is composed of the 1st,3rd and5th. In this stanzas the author provides the reader with a vivid pictureof a notification officer communicating in person to a wife, a child and a mother in regard to how their service member had met their fate in a most ghastly
account. “Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches, Raged at his breast, gulped and died” The second part is the second and fourth stanzas. In this stanzas the author describes the swiftness of action which is well laced with adrenaline and also a vivid image of actual battle in which the service member lost their life with simple yet hard hitting words. “Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment, Little souls who thirst for fight” Personally I think that the title of this poem is referring the honor and glory, which the military men are accorded after fighting bravely in the war. “These men were born to drill and die. The unexplained glory flies above them, Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom” As I read this poem I was thinking about the trauma that families of military members go through while their family members are in war, this trauma is mostly brought about by the existence of the media which constantly report updates of the war. Question: Does war solve issues?
War is a brutal, bloody battlefield from which no one returns unscathed. Nonetheless, there are those who believe war to be a glorious honor, a bedtime story filled with gallant heroes, a scuffle fought an ocean and several countries away. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce and “August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury, the authors seek to convey the devastation that comes from romanticizing war by using impersonal and ironic diction.
The speaker in "War is Kind" is an officer who grapples with his own conscience in an internal monologue. He is struggling with his feelings of guilt over leading younger soldiers into battle and his military responsibility to cover up the truth. One way of interpreting this poem is to consider that the officer is attending a traditional military funeral for one of his soldiers. This can be seen in the way the stanzas are set up in the poem. In the first, third, and fifth stanzas, the speaker appears to be consoling the weeping loved ones of a soldier who died in the war. This would normally be the job of an officer who leads a regiment into battle. Consoling the family members is a powerful tool for conveying the reality of war. Addressing loved ones of a deceased soldier illustrates the loss and suffering to be dealt with by those left behind. He speaks to a "maiden" (1), a "babe" (12), and a "mother" (23), thereby, conveying one of the most significant truths about wa...
The Effects of War on a Union Soldier in The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Although war is often seen as a waste of many lives, poets frequently focus on its effect on individuals. Choose two poems of this kind and show how the poets used individual situations to illustrate the impact of war.
Individualism and Conformity in Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage Stephen Crane's pieces are written with the intent to establish individualism as an unfavorable quality. He establishes that group goals are more important than that of the individual and creates groups to which each character should conform. Crane supplies models for the individual to comply to and elucidates that adherence to the group would bring reward but deviation from said groups would be detrimental. Henry, in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, is created as a child in search of self worth and assurance. Crane establishes Henry as an individual by giving him the ability to think for himself but creates situations that stifle his individualism
Through reading this poem several times I decided that the message from the poem is that war is full of horror and there is little or no glory. Methods which I found most effective were Full rhyme and metaphor.
Imagine a Veteran of the Civil War reminiscing about the past. The veteran imagines how he was running away during a battle, because he was terrified. The veteran’s name is Henry Fleming. Henry talks about the battle of Chancellorsville and how he was afraid. The Battle of Chancellorsville was understandably terrifying, because it was one of the bloodiest struggles of the civil war (“The Battle: Chancellorsville”). Henry is so terrified, because he thinks that all of the opposing soldiers are shooting at him and only him (Crane). Stephen crane was a realistic writer, creating many books. Even though he did not have war experience at the time, he got his combat experience from the football field (“Stephen Crane”). Crane
In the first stanza, the poem uses words like “sludge” (line 2) “limped” (6) to convey a feeling of weariness and exhaustion. It compares the soldiers to “old beggars” (1), betraying a sense of bitterness. Then, the second stanza changes into one of frenzy and panic. It opens
He states, “At the same time, this reading, in my view, adds a new resonance to the poem 's specification of the horror and the cost of war” (Hughes 1). This quote suggests an insight that war is a haunting experience in the mind and body of the soldiers who have never faced the psychological effects of war. Hughes discuss the effects of the war, “On the one hand, then, the inimitable account of the soldiers ' reduced state, and on the other, the evocation of what is experienced, despite the dehumanizing factors of the situation, as a common predicament” (1). The soldiers’ reduced state could be the appearance of the body and their actions, such as being “bent-double like old beggars,” “drunk with fatigue,” or “marching asleep.” These factors dehumanize the soldiers on the battlefield, which proves that war transforms them to become weak-oriented and arise in an unstable state of mind. One of the traumatic experiences of the soldiers convey that it “precisely does not stabilize into an objective scene, any more than the haunting image of the man as drowning in a “green sea” could simply be psychologically processed” (1). This also refers to the soldiers’ effect on the cost of the war. Not only do they encounter the disturbing sense of reality on the battlefield, they also have to face their chances
The speaker achieves this by employing words such as glory, noble, honor, and boldly. These words have positive connotations that make the readers feel admiration for the men risking their lives and charging into battle, which conveys the message that one should honor the heroism of the soldiers. Furthermore, the way the speaker describes how the men continued to charge even when cannons “volleyed and thundered” (21) around them and “shot and shell” (22) fired at them indicates the bravery of the soldiers and makes the reader feel respect for them, which further emphasizes the message of the poem. Also, the point of view in this first poem is third person, as if the speaker is observing the battle occurring, which gives a different perspective of warfare because there is a difference between observing and participating. When observing a battle, you don’t get the full effect of the gruesomeness, so it is easier to celebrate and honor the men that
“Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War is Kind”, is a poem written by Stephen Crane. This poem tries to explain and inform the reader that war is not kind, even though the title says the opposite. When thinking about war the things that come to mind are normally: terrifying, death, cruel, unhuman, etc. The poem tries to tell the reader the opposite, and there are clues that help understand the real meaning of war. This poem is written in sarcasm and repetition. Imagery is seen throughout the whole poem. The title says one thing, but it means the opposite therefore, it is written in a sarcastic way. It is contrasted by specific scenes of death and suffering. The only way war can be “kind” is if it is death ending suffering.
This poem is a free-verse poem that speaks of the problems between war and human nature. The poem heavily emphasizes how after any war, the wounds of war will always remain. The writer Carl Sandburg, points out that battles can end and grass will cover up the damages and human loss of war, however, the wounds of war will always remain with the people who experienced the war. The scenery may change, but the emotional connection can never be lost.
The speaker faces a near death experience as the two men shot at each other only lucky that he survives after he kills his opponent. It is by chance that the speaker walks away unharmed and maybe the reason why he feels sorry for the dead man. However, it is ironic that the speaker regrets having killed the other man yet the dead man also wanted to kill him. The speaker should be happy that he escapes death and not regret as he justifies himself in stanza 3, where he apparently says that he killed the man because he was his enemy. Moreover, contrast comes in where the speaker gives the reason in a way that even he feel that it is not convincing as he pauses between the reasoning( " I shot him because-" Lines 1and 2), ( GALE section 6). Given stanza four, however, the speaker interestingly say that he had no motive for killing any person in the war and regrets shooting the man again arguing that maybe he was on the military list without his consent just like himself. The use of the war image in this context symbolizes what the survivors of war face after defeating their opponents through killing. At the end of the poem, the writer creates another image of war through the speaker's justification of killing the dead man. The poet reveals that wars are interesting in so
However, after reading the poem over again, I was lead to grief. I believe the point of view, which is the parents of the soldiers is the key factor on why the central idea for “War” is about grief. In “War”, the father that lost his child, explains to the other parents that their children at their current age are doing their duty and for their love of their nation. Yet, once he comes to terms with the passing of his son, he grieves by sobbing uncontrollably. The following quote supports the central idea, after the woman on the train asks if his son is really dead the man reacts “His face contracted, became horribly distorted, then he snatched in haste a handkerchief from his pocket and, to the amazement of everyone, broke into harrowing, heart-breaking, uncontrollable sobs”.
Secondly irony is used in the second stanza. Before he went to war he “like a blood smear down his leg” as if it made him feel strong and powerful. He liked to show off his scars, so people thought he was brave. Now his real wounds leave him disabled. There is a strong use of imagery “And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race, and a leap of purple spurted from his thigh”. Owen a soldier and poet in WW1, who was himself killed in that war, humanises the experiences of the battle field and he sacrifices made there, timelessly memorialising such action regardless of the