Dylan Titus Titus 1

English 12
Mrs. Tieman
May 8
th
, 2014 Poetry Analysis


War Is King is a poem written by Stephen Crane in 1899. It is about a
womans husband that has went off to war. The narrator is telling the woman not
to cry because theyre meant to go fight, and if they die it was because God was
watching over them and knew it was the right time. Then the author switches
focus to the soldiers son, telling him that if your father dies in the trenches dont
cry because they were destined to fight and kill, its habitual. The overall theme of
this story is that war is not kind at all, its actually very awful and tears families
apart.

There are many poetic devices used throughout this short poem, or connotative
elements. Theres repetition of War Is Kind and These men were born to drill
Titus 2
and die and a field where a thousand corpses lie , putting emphasis on those
statements. Theres also a simile used in line 23, Mother whose heart hung
humble as a button on the bright splendid shroud of your son. Finally,
personification is used. The author repeatedly used the phrase War is kind,
which is implying that war can have feelings, when its just a thing.

The attitude of the author stays pretty consistent throughout the whole poem.
He is calming yet, depressing. Hes trying to comfort the soldiers loved ones by
explaining to them that their soldier is destined to go to war but some of the
things he says is frightening. Such as in line 8, these men were born to drill and
die, hes trying to calm the family down but at the same time is telling them that
her husband was born to fight and die.

The title of this poem is pretty much what the whole thing is centered around,
War is kind. When I first read the poems title I thought that it was going to be
about how war is really not bad at all, that war is not like everyone pictures it. I
was completely wrong, it was actually the complete opposite. After reading the
Titus 3
story the title is actually kind of sarcastic. The author doesnt say that war is bad,
but never does he say that its kind. He repeatedly brings up the brutal aspects of
war, the fighting, and death. Such as line 14, Raged at his breast, gulped, and
died. The overall theme of this poem is not to try and convince the families that
war is truly kind, but to make them realize its a natural thing, and theres nothing
they can do about it.