1. ‘The Man he Killed’ by Thomas Hardy
LO: To know and understand the form, language and themes of the poem in detail
Starter Task
Write down 5 things you can remember about the Boer War.

2. ‘The Man he Killed’ by Thomas Hardy
LO: To know and understand the form, language and themes of the poem in detail
Learning Objectives
Level 3: Sound understanding of form and structure linking to effect, with clear awareness of the poet’s use of language and of its effect.
Level 4: Sustained analysis of form and structure and their effect with effective comments on the poet’s use of language and its effect on the reader.
Level 5: Perceptive grasp of form and structure and their effect, with a cohesive evaluation of the poet’s language and its effect on the reader.
All: Will be able to understand how one example of form, structure or language create effect for the audience.
Most: Will be able to understand how a range of examples of form, structure or language create effect for the audience.
Some: Will be able to consider different conclusions about what the message of the poem is.

3. ‘The Man he Killed’ by Thomas Hardy
LO: To know and understand the form, language and themes of the poem in detail
The Speaker of the Poem
Is he a bumbling oaf or a shell-shocked veteran?
Bumbling Oaf
He stumbles over his words and does not come to any conclusions or have any ‘deep’ thoughts about why he killed this man.
Shell-shocked Veteran
He is deeply affected by the violence he witnessed and haunted by the idea that him and the man he killed are the same.
Bit of Both
He is just a normal man
This allows us to relate to him and the poem and it’s ideas

4. ‘The Man he Killed’ by Thomas Hardy
LO: To know and understand the form, language and themes of the poem in detail
The Setting
In a pub
The Boer War
A pub
‘Normal’ environment that the audience can relate to
Shows the normality of his everyday life
A messy and gruesome war
The audience cannot relate to it unless they have been part of it
Massively contrasting settings

5. ‘The Man he Killed’ by Thomas Hardy
LO: To know and understand the form, language and themes of the poem in detail
Form & Structure
Form
This poem is a Dramatic Monologue:
It sounds like a man talking
He stumbles, repeats himself & formulates his ideas as he goes
He uses accent/dialect and slang
Despite being in a strict meter, it is a chatty poem that is spoken
There are no grand speeches about war, etc. – he is just a normal guy

6. ‘The Man he Killed’ by Thomas Hardy
LO: To know and understand the form, language and themes of the poem in detail
Form & Structure
Rhyme & Meter
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.
Each stanza has 4 lines = quatrain
Rhyme scheme = ABAB
Da DUM da DUM sound = Iambic Meter
3 iambs in lines 1,2 & 4 of each stanza = iambic triameters lines 1,2 & 4 are always iambic trimeters
4 iambs in line 3 = iambic tetrameter
Line 3 is always an iambic tetrameter

7. ‘The Man he Killed’ by Thomas Hardy
LO: To know and understand the form, language and themes of the poem in detail
Language, Imagery and Symbols
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."
Know little about the identity of them both, except that they are just soldiers doing their jobs
The use of slang and the setting of a pub shows that he is just a normal man
Repitition shows they are the same; they are both just a face without a name - an object to be obliterated.
Again, they are the same – they both shot and both are guilty
Lack of emotion to describe a death. Shows he was just doing his job.
Shows hesitation – he is not sure why he killed him really
Only identified as his enemy – no identity as a person
Why are they enemies? They do not know – just been told and that is that
Ironic – the reason isn’t clear to us or him
The speaker makes up a story to give the other man an identity – projection
He makes him like himself
Emphasising the point – he is interrupting his own story so must mean it!
Imagining the man’s life as he speaks – sense of realism
He is trying but cannot really find a reason for shooting the man.
Strange adjectives to describe war.
Undercuts the violence of war, but also emphasises it as it makes us think that this is what war is NOT

8. ‘The Man he Killed’ by Thomas Hardy
LO: To know and understand the form, language and themes of the poem in detail
Themes
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."
Warfare
This is not your average war poem
Personal, brief & haunting
Not about glory or sacrifice
Just a normal guy telling a story
Is this a pro or anti-war poem?
No – it is merely pointing out a fact of war: men have to kill each other
Yes – Hardy is commenting on the senselessness of these deaths
Guilt
The speaker stumbles over his words
He tries to justify the killing but cannot
He killed a man just like himself
Society & Class
The speaker is an infantryman – he is on the frontline, taking orders from officers
He assumes the other man is also working class
Do the upper classes suffer as much as the lower classes in war?
IS THIS POEM ABOUT CLASS?