"The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy is a poem about war it talks about how one soldier can kill another soldier. The speaker in this poem is a soldier relating his wartime experience. The quotation marks indicate that he is involved in a conversation probably with another soldier, and he is probably of English working class because he talks about being out of work and selling his traps.
             To Hardy the speaker represents all soldiers who go to war even when they don't want to or don't understand all the reasons their country is going to war. Deep down the speaker is talking about every soldier, all most no human being wants to kill another human, and that's exactly what war is. The speaker and the person he kills are both victims of society, neither one of the two men want to kill the other but they have to it's beyond their understanding or control it's war.
             The speakers tone changes as he tells his story. "Had he and I but met by some old ancient inn, We should sat us down to wet." Is the first line of the poem, the tone is smooth and calm to show the speakers confidence that he only did what he had to. The first line also says that if they would have met at an inn or some place besides the battle field things would have been different. "But ranged as infantry, And staring face to face I shot at him as he at me." This is the second stanza the tone changes drastically to a more serious tone, however the meaning is still the same. He is still saying that if circumstances were different he wouldn't have been shooting at this man but it's war and some one has to die.
             The second stanza ends with the speaker telling how he killed him in his place. The third stanza starts with a new tone the speaker is trying to explain himself and why he killed the other soldier he has no good reason besides he was his foe and they were at war. But when the s
             ...