Quote by Thomas Hardy, The Man He Killed

Had he and I but metBy some old ancient inn,We should have sat us down to wetRight 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; althoughHe thought he

Had he and I but metBy some old ancient inn,We should have s

Summary

In this quote from the poem "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy, the speaker reflects upon the senselessness and irony of war. He laments the missed opportunity to be friends with his enemy if they had met in a friendly setting, imagining them sitting together in a pub having drinks. However, due to their roles as soldiers facing each other on the battlefield, they ultimately ended up shooting each other. The speaker acknowledges that his actions were driven by the fact that the enemy was his "foe" and expresses the clear justification for killing him, even though he recognizes the shared humanity between them.

Topics

War

By Thomas Hardy, The Man He Killed

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.

The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.

Hubert H. Humphrey

Friendship

I don't think that a leader can control, to any great extent

I don't think that a leader can control, to any great extent, his destiny. Very seldom can he step in and change the situation if the forces of history are running in another direction.

Richard M. Nixon

A relationship is like another job, you know, you have to wo

A relationship is like another job, you know, you have to work at it all the time.

Candice Swanepoel

Relationship

In criticism I will be bold, and as sternly, absolutely just

In criticism I will be bold, and as sternly, absolutely just with friend and foe. From this purpose nothing shall turn me.

Edgar Allan Poe

Criticism

Well, love is confusing at all ages, but especially when you

Well, love is confusing at all ages, but especially when you're 17.

Age Love

I gradually realized that I was seeing another example of cr

I gradually realized that I was seeing another example of creative ebb, another step by another art on the road that may indeed end in extinction.

Creativity Writing Process Writing Extinction Writer S Block

And we'll call you...hmmm. Pudge. Huh? Pudge, the Colonel sa

And we'll call you...hmmm. Pudge. Huh? Pudge, the Colonel said. Because you're skinny. It's called irony, Pudge. Heard of it? Now, let's go get some cigarettes and start this year off right.

Rights

For those of you who thought you'd be forgotten, The friends

For those of you who thought you'd be forgotten, The friends you've made will try their best, to make it so. Think of all the beauty that you left behind you. You can take it if you want it, and then let it go.

Zooey Deschanel

Beauty

I feel myself dissolving, vanishing into nothingness, for if

I feel myself dissolving, vanishing into nothingness, for if there is no one in the world who cares for you, do you really exist at all?

Cassandra Clare

Love Meaning

It is, of course, further indication that a fundamentalist r

It is, of course, further indication that a fundamentalist right has really taken over much of the Republican Party, People might cite George Bush as proof that you can be totally impervious to the effects of Harvard and Yale education.

Education

If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill him

If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation?

Age Humor Funny

Do grown men always have to play games? Does everything have

Do grown men always have to play games? Does everything have to be an excuse for another kind of game? Do any men grow up or do they only come of age?

Men Games