"War is Kind" by 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!
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 reactions
The poem looks like a satire. It's a biting "praise" of the nature of war, almost reading like what what would be offered to those who grieve for some bitter comfort or the platitudes of a war hawk. Stephen Crane's previous work on war, The Red Badge of Courage, lands him as one who is solidly critical of war and its premises.
Paraphrase
Paraphrase
Don't cry, your lover might have been killed and had his horse go on riderless, but war is kind. The sound of drums and souls ready to fight mean these men were meant for war and for dying. The battle-god is great, and his kingdom is a field of a thousand corpses. Don't cry, your father might have died in the trenches without dignity, but war is kind. The flag of the regiment, an eagle with a crest of red and gold, mean these men were meant for war and for dying. Show them that dying is good, killing is good, and a field of a thousand corpses is good. You mother, who had humble pride in your son, don't cry. War is kind!
SWIFTT
SW – Crane uses emotional, sentimental language to push home the point of the poem. It reads alternatively like propaganda and on the other hand like a sardonic take on hawkish platitudes. The repetition of “do not weep” and “war is kind” drive home the irony.
I – The poem describes scenes of death and of men dying, alongside romantic “heroic” imagery of battle drums and a glorious war-god.
F – One use of figurative language is the war-god Crane references. Here, Crane does not mean a literal war-god, but uses it as a metaphor for a glorious and righteous war.
T – The tone of the poem is faux-romanticist, creating verbal irony. Underneath, the poem is sardonic and scathing.
T – The theme of “War is Kind” is to satirize the romantic image of war and the sentimentalism used to justify it. It shows that war is definitely not kind.
Conclusions
“War is Kind” does prove to be a satire, but it also touches into a critique of the romanticism and sentimentalism associated with the glorious image of war by way of irony and dark sarcasm. His use of emotionally-charged language imitates the language used for recruitment or to popularize war, then turns it around to show how different it is from the reality of war.
