War is Kind- Stephen 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 tumbles 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!

First Instinct

          After reading through the poem “War is Kind” by Stephen Crane, my first reaction is that I had a hard time understanding Crane’s purpose in writing the poem. Throughout the poem he repeatedly mentions that war is kind. However, the facts that he uses in his stanza prove that war is not kind. For example, when Crane says that field is filled with a thousand corpses, the readers are left to wonder how that represents war being kind. Also my first reaction is that Crane talks about the men that are fighting in the war are trained to fight and defend themselves. Therefore, if they die it is there fault for not using that they learned to defend themselves from the enemies.

Paraphrasing

Do not cry, girl, war is kind,
Because your significant other went crazy
And the alarmed horse ran alone
Do not cry
War is kind.

Raucous, roaring drums of the troops,
The men yearn to fight,
These special men were born to fight and die.
The mysterious glory is above them.
The battle-god is great and his kingdom is great too.
His kingdom is a field filled thousands of corpses.

Do not cry, dear, because war is kind.
Due to your father falls into yellow ditches,
Exploded at his chest, swallowed and died.
Do not cry.
War is kind.

Rapid, mighty flag of the troops,
Eagle with crown of red and gold,
These special men were born to fight and die.
Point for them the advantage of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excitement of killing
And the field filled with thousands of corpses.

Mother whose heart are modest as a button
On the bright marvelous blanket of their son,
Do not cry.
War is kind.

SWIFTT

Syntax/Word: Throughout the poem, Cranes uses phrase that emotionally heavy to appeal to the readers emotions. An example of this appeal to the reader’s emotion is “mother whose heart hung humble as a button”. This appeals to the readers emotions because even though the mother’s child has passed away she is still humbled because he died fighting for something he believed in. Also Crane’s uses of the maiden and babe, allow the readers to realize that he has written the poem for a female. Crane could be writing this for a female due to the majority of the time, in which the poem was written in, only men were allowed to fight in wars. Women were forced to stay and care for the children and houses.

Imagery: Throughout the poem, Crane uses specific imagery to allow the reader to visualize that he is discussing. The first imagery in the poem, is the “affrighted steed ran on alone”. This imagery is used for the readers to picture a frightened horse running extremely fast by itself. In times of war, it was a common thing for regiments to see horses run around by themselves because the rider was murdered in action. The second piece of imagery Crane uses in his poem is the booming drums of the regiment. By using this imagery the readers can visualize the regiment lining up to fight with the booming drums playing their “theme song”. A field where a thousand corpses lie is another form of imagery, used. By using this imagery can better understand that war is not really kind because thousands of individuals die and are left to rot in fields. The last image that the reader can visual is a troop dying. Readers can visual this because Crane specifically describes his death, “raged at his breast, gulped and died”.

Figurative: In order for the readers to realize that Crane uses figurative language in the poem, they have to closely analysis it. In the second stanza, gives glory animal characteristics. Glory cannot fly therefore the Crane gave glory the characteristics of a bird. The finally form of figurative language used in the poem is a metaphor. The metaphor compares the regiment to an eagle. By comparing the regiment to an eagle, the readers can analysis that Crane believes that they soldiers are strong and brave.

Tone: After closely analyzing the poem, readers realize that the tone of the poem is sarcastic. The tone is sarcastic because throughout the poem Crane says that war is kind but within the stanzas Crane does not use facts to support this claim. The imagery and word choices help the reader analyze the sarcastic tone in the poem. An example of imagery that applies to sarcastic tone is line fourteen through sixteen. In this lines Crane describes a soldier dead, however, in the follow two lines Crane says don’t cry because war is kind. Nothing about men sacrificing their lives to fight in a war is kind.

Theme: After closely analyzing the poem, the readers can come to the conclusion that the theme of the poem is that war is really not kind at all. Readers can come to this conclusion by analyzing the word choices, imagery, and tone. Since the tone of the poem is sarcastic, the readers can conclude that when Crane mentions that war is kind, he really means the opposite. Also the imagery that Crane provides throughout the poem represents all the horrid aspects of a war.

Conclusion

          After further analyzing, the poem I have come to the conclusion that my first reaction to the poem as similar to what the poem is actual about. “War is Kind” is about war not being kind. However, now I have a better understanding why Crane repeatedly using that war is kind. His purpose of using that was to a sarcastic tone to the poem. By doing this the readers have a better understanding of his position on fighting in a war; that it is not kind. One reaction that has change since analyzing the poem is about the men that trained to fight in war. Even though these men are trained to fight, they should not be. War is not a kind thing to be involved in, tons of men and women sacrifice their lives for something they believe in.