War is kind - Stephan Crane

 


War is kind - Stephan Crane

Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.

Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky

And the affrighted steed ran on alone,

Do not weep.

War is kind.

 

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,

Little souls who thirst for fight,

These men were born to drill and die.

The unexplained glory flies above them,

Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom—


A field where a thousand corpses lie.

 

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.

Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,

Raged at his breast, gulped and died,

Do not weep.

War is kind.

 

Swift, blazing flag of the regiment,

Eagle with crest of red and gold,

These men were born to drill and die.

Point for them the virtue of slaughter,

Make plain to them the excellence of killing

And a field where a thousand corpses lie.

 

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button

On the bright splendid shroud of your son,

Do not weep.

War is kind.

 

Author Stephan Crane

 

He was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. He is one of the most innovative writers of his generation. Crane began writing at the age of four and had published several articles by the age of 16. Crane’s 1st novel was the 1893 Bowery tale Maggie: A girl of the streets. He won international acclaim in 1895 for his civil war. He was befriended by writers such as Joseph Conrad and H.G wells.  Due to financial difficulties and ill health, Crane died of tuberculosis in a black forest sanatorium in Germany at the age of 28.


Crane’s writing is categorized by vivid intensity, dialects and irony. His common themes were fear, spiritual crisis and social isolation. Crane is known for his poetry, journalism and short stories such as “The open Boat”. His works made a deep impression on 20th century writers. 

 

 

Analysis of “War is Kind”

Stanza 1

“Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.

  Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky

  And the affrighted steed ran on alone,

  Do not weep.

  War is kind”

 

The speaker begins with a comforting words.  He tells a “maiden,” or unmarried woman, not to weep.  For “War is kind” according to him.  This is an extraordinary ironic, thing to say.

He then tells the woman the condition of her lover.  He “lover threw” his hands in the air when he was confronted with war. When this happened, his “steed,” or horse ran alone. It was “affrighted,” a complicated way to say frightened. The rider less horse galloping away alone without its dead owner.  It is quiet unclear what exactly happened to the soldier lover to through his hands in the air. Maybe he was surrendering or perhaps something happened and he was injured or even killed in the war.  For the battlefield is full of dead corpses.

 

Stanza 2

“Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,

Little souls who thirst for fight,

These men were born to drill and die.

The unexplained glory flies above them,

Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom—

A field where a thousand corpses lie”.

 

In the second stanza the poet makes a reference to a “steed” and uses the word “Hoarse”. This time he refers to the band played by the regiment of soldiers. They sound “hoarse,” refers to the condition of the soldiers as if they are not well and they are in need to quench their thirst. In the next two lines the poet compares the soldiers are “Little souls” and are thirsty not for water, but “for fight”. They are thirsty for their country’s pride and victory.

 

The “little souls” appears contrast with the next lines which refers to the men who do not have souls. The speaker goes on to say about their duty as they are born for only to fight for their country. They were born to “drill” as in train and practice, and then die. They are like well-trained human machines and mechanical in their actions and in their purpose. 

 

In the fourth line the poet makes a references “unexplained glory”. Since there is no proper clear answer to the meaning of glory, but it could mean ephemeral nature of glory itself.   It could be something the outsiders of war should feel upon those who are in the war.  Glory is not blessed on to people outside.  It is something which felt on the soldiers on the battlefield.

In the last lines of this stanza the poet says about the god of war.  There are lot of god who could take this description but the name of the god does not make a difference.  But the speaker wants to create a scene which is a different kingdom.  This is filled with thousands of dead corpses and this is place is a dark and fearful place which is under the control of a powerful force. 

Stanza 3

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.

Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,

Raged at his breast, gulped and died,

Do not weep.

War is kind. 

 

In the third stanza the poet asks “babe” not to weep.  Now he is speaking to a young child. 

He advices the child that there is no reason to cry, and gives a good reason not to cry. The child’s father, who was in the battlefield must have died in “the yellow trenches”. He had rage in his breast and in the simplest way, “gulped and died”. The “rage” means his own thirst for war and patriotism, and also to the injury which killed him. The bullet entered his body, and killed him by another soldier’s thirst for war who is standing opposite to him representing his motherland.

 

Stanza 4

Swift, blazing flag of the regiment,

Eagle with crest of red and gold,

These men were born to drill and die.

Point for them the virtue of slaughter,

Make plain to them the excellence of killing

And a field where a thousand corpses lie

           

 

The flag of the regiment is mentioned in this stanza “blazing” and pattered with a “crest of red and gold” and an eagle.  In these lines the speaker goes through some terrible images such as “eagle with crest of red and gold”. And “a field where a thousand corpses lie.”  He speaks to the flag, and tells it to make sure the men know that there is “virtue” in slaughtering one’s enemies and that there is “excellence” honor in killing.

 

Stanza 5

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button 

On the bright splendid shroud of your son, 

Do not weep. 

War is kind.

The fifth stanza of is addressed to a mother who is facing with the loss of her dear son. With the “heart hung humble” the speaker describes the way she takes the pain of his son before his coffin. Her heart was on the “shroud” the cloth of her son, as simple as a button. The stanza end with the poet’s request to someone not to cry for war is kind.

 

Themes

 

Law of nature

 

 “War is kind” stresses on the mental agony of the dying soldiers and their beloved kith and kin. They would be focusing on their wellbeing instead of their patriotic feelings.  Their deaths are well expressed in this poem which is a vital part of war. They die alone and full of rage, in a battlefield “where a thousand corpses lie.”  “War is Kind” also says the nature of War, it is about the regiment who takes the slogan “to drill and die” and Point for them the virtue of slaughter” This suggests, Crane sees the war with a difference. One can feel sad and sympathy for the victims of the war.  But how could one stop his anger on who permits war? The Regiment, mentally framed an idea “Make plain to them the excellence of killing” He expresses his anger with an ironic tone that “War is Kind”

 

Feeling for the Country

“War is Kind” doubts the usefulness of patriotism. The flag is an emblem of national pride “the unexplained glory,” it would fly above the soldiers marching towards their deaths to protect the honor of his country.  On the battlefield it is hard to understand for there is nothing rational to fight and die for the pride and honor of the flag.   The Flag is symbol of “the excellence of killing” and “the virtue of slaughter.”  The poet says that patriotism is an act of obedience which may be blind to some and honest to the other. Crane stresses that such love to the flag “were born to drill and die,” there were no choice for the soldiers who were under the influence of Patriotism.

Style

 “War is Kind” is a free verse on war and its consequences. The poet uses solid imagery and irony to give awareness of the futility of war. The imagery describes the horrors of war directly to our sense. Tactile imagery is in the poem highlights the effects of battle on the human body and to the emotional feelings of their relatives. The tone of the poem is ironic, that is, he does not mean that war is kind, but that it is cruel and unjust. Another example of irony if from the second stanza when the speaker says “Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom …” It is a painful ironic that war’s “kindness” because the soldiers’ deaths bring them release from their suffering and they don’t have to fight more with their unknown enemy.

The poem consists of two types of language or diction. The language used in the first and fifths stanzas is simple, plain and closer to day today speech, whereas the language of the second and fourth stanzas uses more formal verse such as end rhyme. The contrast between these two styles adds to the poem a sense of warning and the author’s intention to bring out the futility of wars.

Analysis

The poem starts with a comforting words. “Do not weep maiden” which is immediately followed by the contrasting lines “for war is kind”. This is both ironic and sarcastic. Now, the poet describes us an image of a man who throws his hands wildly at the sky. The word “throw”, it reminds us of somebody praying to God.  The soldier must have been killed and his horse galloping in fear alone after losing control. The horrific picture of the dying soldier brings home the bitter reality of the war which does not have anything to do with the soldier or his family.   But the effect of the war is shocking and painful.

The second stanza commences with the words “hoarse, booming drums of the regiment” with brings an onomatopoeic effect to the readers. The drums were used to show the advancing troops and used to motivate their fighting spirits. The next two lines bring out sad fate of the soldiers who are engaged in war:

Little souls who thirst for fight,
These men were born to drill and die.

The poet refers the soldiers as “little souls”. The poet expresses his sympathetic feelings and he makes a difference with brave images of soldiers. The next line with its strong alliteration of “d” sound in “drill and die” express their tough nature of the soldiers and their short lives in the battlefield.  In other words, the soldiers are the weapons in the hands of the powerful rulers. The next line carries ironic tone

The unexplained glory flies above them

Glory is personified as an unreachable far distanced dream as the soldiers would never get a chance to feel the so called “glory “while they are alive.  The poet points out the difference the ideal and the real nature of war in the following lines.

Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom
A field where a thousand corpses lie.

The alliteration in the first line “g” sound gives the poshness and greatness of war especially with the allusion the Mars, the Roman God of War or the “battle-god”. but, the next line brings totally a different scene where  death of soldier is among the thousand corpses lie  no value for life as he is one among the thousand.

The 3rd stanza is addressed to a baby whose father had died in war:

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Death of a soldier does not differ whether he can be a father or husband or lover.  All the loss are same and it pains the people who lose them.  The First World War was mainly an underground warfare and many soldiers were fighting from trenches. The conditions of the trenches made the soldiers uncomfortable and they dies of diseases then from war. The “yellow trenches” bring out the uncomfortable conditions of the trenches. The excruciating pain suffered by the dying soldier is conveyed through “raged” and “gulped”. This horrific brings out the cruelty of war

The next stanza describes us  the battle field

Swift, blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.

The regimental flag with its golden crest symbolizes the spirit and heroism of war. The next line, conveys the bitter reality of war as, according to the poet, the soldiers are machines in the hands of the powerful rulers just born to “drill and die”.  This sudden change of tone is called anti-climax. The next two lines with “virtue of slaughter” and “excellence of killing” are also loaded with irony.

The final stanza with the image of a mother mourning his dead son provides an appropriate conclusion to the poem:

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

The alliteration of the “h” sound in the first line brings out a sense of heaviness of heart felt by the mother. The simile “humble as a button” is quite admiring and it connects with the “shroud” the covering cloth of the dead son.  It is “bright and splendid”, the soldier is honored and glorified after his death as he fought for his country and sacrificed his life for his land. When the world salutes his sacrifice, his mother’s love has become insignificant like “a button”.

The poem ends with the same comforting lines again

“Do not weep
War is kind”

Like most poems about war, this poem too brings out the futility of war and its miserable experiences.

Poetic techniques

Syntax

The poem, contains phrases loaded with heavy emotions. An example is “mother whose heart hung humble as a button”. This gives an uncomfortable feelings to the readers as they can see the pain of the mother to his dead son soldier, still she supposed to stay because he died fighting for the pride of his motherland.   Also the poet uses maiden, babe and mother to say that the time period is for men to fight for the country, women to stay and care her family.

Imagery

Stephen Crane uses imagery so the readers can see mentally what the poet wants to say. The first imagery is the “affrighted steed ran on alone”.  By this imagery the readers could see the situation of the soldier as frightened horse running alone by itself.   The second imagery in this poem is the sound of the drums of the regiment.  From this the readers can visualize the regiment play to boost up their physical and mental energy to face the fight. “Thousand corpses lie” is another imagery. By this we can understand that war is not really not a kind because many die and are left to rot in fields. The last image in the poem is troop dying which describes the soldier’s death “raged at his breast, gulped and died”.

Figure of speech

Crane uses figurative language in the poem, he uses some animals and the glory related to it.  To bring out the glory of the soldiers he compares it to the majestic of a bird.   He uses metaphor.   The metaphor compares the regiment to an “eagle”.  By comparing the regiment to an eagle, the readers can feel the poet’s intention. Crane believes and expresses that the soldiers are strong and brave.

Tone

The tone of the poem is sarcastic.  Because the poet says that the war is kind but if you give a deep thought the readers can feel it is not about the war but it is about the pain of those who are related to the war.  He didn’t say a single verse to support that war is kind instead he has brought out his agony in each line about the futility of war.

Theme

After a deep analysis of the poem, the readers can come to the conclusion that the theme of the poem is that war is not kind at all. Readers can understand this by studying the words used, images and tone in each situation. As the tone is very sarcastic, the poet concludes the war is not kind but it brings everlasting pain to those who lose their beloved ones in the war.

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