"The Man He Killed" was written by the British Victorian poet and novelist Thomas Hardy and first published in 1902. A dramatic monologue, the poem's speaker recounts having to kill a man in war with whom he had found himself "face to face." Talking casually throughout, the speaker discusses how this man could easily have been his friend, someone he might have, under different circumstances, had a drink with in an "ancient inn." Struggling to find a good reason for shooting the man, the speaker says it was "just so"—it was just what happens during war. The poem thus highlights the senselessness and wasteful tragedy of human conflict and is specifically thought to have been inspired by the events of the Boer War in South Africa.
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The Full Text of “The Man He Killed”
1"Had he and I but met
2 By some old ancient inn,
3We should have sat us down to wet
4 Right many a nipperkin!
5 "But ranged as infantry,
6 And staring face to face,
7I 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,
11Just so: my foe of course he was;
12 That's clear enough; although
13 "He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
14 Off-hand like — just as I —
15Was out of work — had sold his traps —
16 No other reason why.
17 "Yes; quaint and curious war is!
18 You shoot a fellow down
19You'd treat if met where any bar is,
20 Or help to half-a-crown."
The Full Text of “The Man He Killed”
1"Had he and I but met
2 By some old ancient inn,
3We should have sat us down to wet
4 Right many a nipperkin!
5 "But ranged as infantry,
6 And staring face to face,
7I 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,
11Just so: my foe of course he was;
12 That's clear enough; although
13 "He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
14 Off-hand like — just as I —
15Was out of work — had sold his traps —
16 No other reason why.
17 "Yes; quaint and curious war is!
18 You shoot a fellow down
19You'd treat if met where any bar is,
20 Or help to half-a-crown."
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“The Man He Killed” Summary
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“The Man He Killed” Themes
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The Senselessness of War
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Man He Killed”
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Lines 1-4
"Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin! -
Lines 5-8
"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place. -
Lines 9-12
"I shot him dead because —
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although -
Lines 13-16
"He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like — just as I —
Was out of work — had sold his traps —
No other reason why. -
Lines 17-20
"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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“The Man He Killed” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Caesura
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Consonance
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Diacope
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Epizeuxis
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Juxtaposition
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“The Man He Killed” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Inn
- Right Many
- Nipperkin
- Ranged
- Infantry
- Foe
- 'List
- Off-hand
- Like
- Traps
- Quaint
- Curious
- Half-a-crown
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Man He Killed”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“The Man He Killed” Speaker
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“The Man He Killed” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “The Man He Killed”
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More “The Man He Killed” Resources
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External Resources
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Radio Documentary — A radio documentary about Hardy's life and work.
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Boer War Explanation — A BBC article that gives a clear account of the Boer War.
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Boer War Poetry — Further poetry related to the Boer War.
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Commentaries on Hardy Poems — A valuable resource of Hardy poems and analyses, provided by The Thomas Hardy Society.
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A Reading — The poem read by Jordan Harling.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Thomas Hardy
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