THE MAN HE KILLED
by: Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
- "AD
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."
"The Man He Killed" is
reprinted from Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses.
Thomas Hardy. London: Macmillan and Co. 1909. |
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POEMS BY THOMAS HARDY |
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