 ANALISIS : SASTRA

Stylistic Features of Thomas Hardy’s Poem

The Man He Killed

Nurindah

ABSTRACT. This article explores “The Man He Killed”, a poem

by Thomas Hardy, and is aimed at seeing the effectiveness
of linguistic application and the message to be imparted to
the readers. It, particularly, attempts to analyse the
linguistics features of the poem. The results of the analysis
indicate that the poem uses the sets of linguistics features
which include graphology, phonology, mor-phology, syntax,
semantics, and the contextual meaning. On the
graphological aspects, Thomas Hardy tries to achieve an
equal number of the syllabic sounds of similar lines of each
stanza. In terms of the morphological aspect, there is an
attempt to deviate the rules of word formation by adding
inflection or derivation to the word that is not their
inflections or derivation. Regarding the syntactical aspect,
there is an effort to the shortening of sentences especially
based on the enjambment sentences. To help readers
understand the meaning of the messages, Hardy creates
them in contextual meaning.

KEY WORDS: poem, stylistic features, contextual meaning

The Man He Killed (1902) - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

“Had he and I but met

By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!° °half-pint cup; small amount of beer, wine, or liquor

“But ranged as infantry, 5

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. 10
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although

“He thought he'd list°, perhaps, °enlist

Off-hand like – just as I –
Was out of work – had sold his traps° – 15 °possessions; belongings
No other reason why.

Nurindah – Stylistic Features of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He`Killed”

 “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°.” 20 °today about 40 cents, but at the time, the equivalent of
$10 or $20; British coin worth five shillings or 60 pence

Nurindah – Stylistic Features of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He`Killed”

The Paraphrase of the Poem
If the man I killed had met me in an inn, we would have sat down together and
had many drinks. But because we belonged to armies of warring footsoldiers lined up
on a battlefield, we shot at each other, and my shot killed him.
The reason I killed him, I think, was that he and I were enemies — just that. But
as I think of it, I realize that he had enlisted, just the way I did. Perhaps he did it on a
whim, or perhaps he had lost his job and sold everything he owned. There was no
other reason to enlist.
Being at war is certainly unusual and strange. You are forced to kill a man for
whom you would buy a drink, or whom you would help out with half a crown in a
time of need.

1. GRAPHETIC (GRAPHOLOGICAL) ASPECTS

The structure of “The Man He Killed” is shown by the poem's short lines and clear
organizations. The poem is symmetrical in the distribution of its subject matter and
formal in its stanza patterning and regular and orderly rhyme scheme. The poem is
written in a simple metre and a tight “abab” rhyme scheme. Most of the lines are end
stopped. The poem is composed of five stanzas, each of 4 lines. Each stanza has a
parallel syllabic sounds (6, 6, 8, and 6 syllabics), except in the last line of stanza 1
and the first line of stanza 5 which are consist of 7 syllabics sounds.
There is only one unusual contraction used by Hardy in this poem. The use of the
contraction is intended to have equal number of its syllabic sounds as the other
similar lines. The word in line 13 “he’d” has the original form “he had”; and in line 19
“You’d” has the original form “You had”. Yet, Hardy uses such contraction in order it
has one syllabic sound not two, so it makes the line have six syllabic sounds which is
equal with the other lines.
The first thing to note about this poem is that it is written as it is spoken - it is a
monologue. It is not just colloquial (like speech) in style and vocabulary. It has even
inverted commas (speech marks) to show that it is meant to be spoken.
He uses too many punctuations (semi colon, colon, dash, exclamation point, and
quotation marks) because has a purpose to emphasize and to convey an idea and
meaning or to help avoid contextual ambiguity. As it can be seen his caesura - a
pause or break in a line of verse that modifies the regularity of accents; a caesura
occurs after a punctuation mark or at a natural break in phrasing.

“I shot him dead because –

Because he was my foe.
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That’s clear enough; although

In the above example - as in third stanza, the pause created by the colon places
emphasis on what occurs after it.

“He thought he’d ‘list, perhaps,

Off-hand like – just as I –
Was out of work – had sold his traps –
No other reason why.

In this passage of fourth stanza, the dashes in line two and three create pauses to
set “just as I” and “had sold his traps” are apart from the rest of the line.

2. PHONOLOGICAL ASPECTS

Nurindah – Stylistic Features of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He`Killed”

2.1 The rhyme scheme appearing in simple rhyme are a, b, a, b.

2.2 Perfect rhyme, full rhyme, or true rhyme appears in:

Stanza 1: the identical stressed vowel sound ending in /ɛt/ as in the words
met /mɛt/ (l.1) and wet /wɛt/ (l.3)
Stanza 2: the identical stressed vowel sound ending in /eɪs/ as in the words
face /feıs/ (l.6) and place /pleɪs/ (l.8)
Stanza 5: the identical stressed vowel sound ending in /aʊn/ as in the words
down /daʊn/ (l.18) and crown/kraʊn/ (l.20)

2.3 End rhyme appears in:

Stanza 4: the rhyme occurs at the end of a line in /æps/ as in the words
perhaps /pəhæps/ (l.13) and traps/træps/ (l.15)

2.4 Eye rhyme appears in:

Stanza 3: two words look like they should rhyme, but don't as in the words
“enough/although” (l.12)

2.5 Internal rhyme appears in:

Stanza 4: the rhyme occurs within a line as in the words “face/face” (l.6)

2.6 Alliteration appears in:

Stanza 1: the repetition of consonant in words near each other as in /h/ as in the
words “Had/he” (l.1), and the repetition of consonant in words near each
other in /w/ as in the words “we/ wet” (l.3)
Stanza 2: the repetition of consonant in words near each other in /h/ as in the words
“him/he” (l.8)
Stanza 4: the repetition of consonant sounds in /h/ as in the words “help/half” (l.20)

2.7 Assonance appears in:

Stanza 3: the repetition of vowel sounds in words near in /əʊ/ as in the words
“so/foe” (l.11)

Turning to the segmental phonology of the whole poem, it can be noted that the
great amount of repeated sounds of one kind or another is able to make the beauty
of the poem. The repeated sounds include perfect rhyme, end rhyme, eye rhyme,
internal rhyme, alliteration, and assonance. The use of repeated sounds occurs
throughout the poem can function to reinforce the sense of repetitiveness, free
association, aesthetic, and monotony of the poem.

3. MORPHOLOGICAL ASPECTS
In morphological aspect, the writer analyses the content words which have
deviation on the poem formation. In the line 13 which is state in stanza 4, a letter
“he” in the word “he had” is deleted and substituted by using apostrophe (he’d).

“He thought he'd list, perhaps, (l.13)

Nurindah – Stylistic Features of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He`Killed”

It is intended that “he’d” has only one syllabic sound rather than “he had” which has
two syllabic sounds. The word “he’d” also followed by the word “list” (in the same
line). This word “list” comes from two syllabic sounds “enlist”. The deletion of two
letters (en) in “en” is done for the purpose that in order the line has six syllabic
sounds as to be similar and parallel to the other lines as the first line of the other
stanza.
In the line 19 which is state in stanza 5, again a letter “he” in the word “you had”
is deleted and substituted by using apostrophe (You’d).

You'd treat if met where any bar is, (l.19)

It is intended that “You’d” has only one syllabic sound rather than “You had”
which has two syllabic sounds. The purpose is in order the line has eight syllabic
sounds as to be similar and parallel to the other lines as the third line of the other
stanza.

4. SYNTACTICAL ASPECTS
In line with the syntactical aspect, a poem studies by seeing the phrases, clauses
and the construction of clauses (such as inversion and enjambment) used. As far as
of that reason, it only found the enjambment which occurs in this poem, as it happen
in line 1 and 2. The complete phrase is “but met by some old ancient inn”. The
phrase is broken into two lines: in the first line is //but met//, and the second line
is //by some old ancient inn//. The breakage is intended to have rhyme lines between
the third line and fourth line as rhyme /ɛt/ in word “met” and “wet” and rhyme /ɪn/ in
word “inn” and “nipperkin” as in the first stanza.

“Had he and I but met

By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

Enjambment also found in this poem as in the end line of third stanza and the first
line of fourth stanza which the breakage of the clause. The clause “That's clear
enough; although he thought he'd list,..” into two phrases: //That's clear enough;
although/ and //He thought he'd list,...//. The purpose of the breakage is intended to
have rhyme scheme and sound /əʊ/ in word “foe” (l.10) and word “although” (l.12).
Enjambment also occurs in line 14 and 15. Actually these two lines are one
phrase.

Off-hand like – just as I –

Was out of work – had sold his traps –

The phrase is “just as I Was out of work”. The unit of phrase is broken into two lines:
in the first line is //just as I//, and the second line is //Was out of work//. The breakage
is intended to have rhyme lines between the fourth line as rhyme /aɪ/ in word “I” and
“why” as in the fourth stanza.

5. LEXICAL ASPECTS
The most important element of diction in this poem is lexical item where the
separate lexical items work to produce image. Herewith, the writer analyses the
lexical items which have possible denotative or connotative meaning represented by
image. Imaginative diction transfers the poet's impressions or senses. Poet uses
sense of sight (visual images), sound (auditory images), smell (olfactory images),
taste (gustatory images), and touch (tactile images) to the careful reader.

Nurindah – Stylistic Features of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He`Killed”

 We can see informal diction in this poem where the poet uses words and phrases
are very simple. They are the impression of sight but are familiar or everyday terms
(from the common lexicon), apart from a few dialect expressions, like "sat us down",
“many a nipperkin,” (a small measure of drink) or "traps" (possessions), and the
abbreviation “list” for “enlist” (join up, become a soldier in the army) in “He thought
he'd 'list,” and “off-hand like.”
Interestingly, Hardy uses visual and kinetic also kinesthetic images to render the
tactile sensation. The visual images or impression of sight is described as follows:
We should have sat us down to wet (line 3)
Right many a nipperkin! (line 4)
And staring face to face, (line 6)
I shot at him as he at me, (line 7)
“He thought he'd list, perhaps, (line 13)
Was out of work – had sold his traps – (line 15)
You'd treat if met where any bar is, (line 19)
Or help to half-a-crown.” (line 20)
The clauses means the man and I (speaker or persona) sat down together as in
line 3 and they had many drinks as in line 4. So, the clauses in line 6 and 7 mean we
(he and I) shot at each other, and my ammunition or bullets killed him. While in line
13 and 15 mean “I” as persona realizes that “he” (the man he killed) had enlisted,
perhaps he had lost his job and sold everything he owned. Line 19 and 20, the
clauses mean that You are forced to kill a man for whom would buy a drink in a bar,
or whom would help out with half a crown in a time of need.
The kinesthetic or image of motion describing human or animal motion and
activity, as word fellow down in line 18; “You shoot a fellow down”, means that You
are forced to kill a man. Tactile images of touch are internally felt and are therefore
subjective and difficult to render. As in line 3, word wet refers to wet as an enclosing,
airy or cool perception of feeling.

We should have sat us down to wet (line 3)

This tactile sensation of wet as in above line means We would have sat down
together and had many drinks.

6. THE CONTEXT OF THE POEM

The construction of “The Man He Killed” exposes the senselessness of war. It
appears as one half of a conversation. The persona, as represented by a young man
—the speaker— tells about how he killed another man in battle, and reflects on how
much he and his victim had in common, and how little reason they had to fight each
other. The title is slightly odd, as Hardy uses the third-person pronoun “He”, though
the poem is narrated in the first person. The “He” of the title (the “I” of the poem) is
evidently a soldier attempting to explain and perhaps justify his killing of another
man in battle.
In the first stanza indicates the narrator establishes the common ground between
himself and his victim: in more favorable circumstances they could have shared
hospitality together. This idea is in striking contrast to that in the second stanza: the
circumstances in which the men did meet. “ranged as infantry” suggests that the
men are not natural foes but have been "ranged", that is set against each other. The
phrase “as he at me” indicates the similarity of their situations.
In the third stanza the narrator gives his reason for shooting the supposed
enemy. The conversational style of the poem enables Hardy to repeat the word
“because”, implying hesitation, and therefore doubt, on the part of the narrator. He
cannot at first easily think of a reason. When he does so, the assertion “because he

Nurindah – Stylistic Features of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He`Killed”

was my foe” is utterly unconvincing. The speaker tries to justify the killing, but can
produce no stronger reason than that the dead man was his “foe.” Once he states
this reason, he again thinks of the similarities between himself and the dead man,
and then concludes that warfare is “quaint and curious” (line 17) because one is
forced to kill a person he would have befriended if they had met during a time of
peace. The speaker has already made clear the sense in which the men were foes: an
artificial enmity created by others.
Hardy’s manner of speech is conversational, as in “We should have sat us down”
(line 3), and “list” (for “enlist,” line 13), and his use of “you” in the last stanza. Also,
his choice of words is common and informal for the time when the poem was written
as in “nipperkin,” “traps,” and “fellow” (lines 4, 15, and 18). This language is
important, because it establishes that the speaker is an ordinary man who has been
thrust into an unnatural role because of war.
Hardy's use of punctuation — the dashes — stresses the fact that the speaker has
no ideological commitment to the cause he served when killing. Thus the speaker
stops at the word “because — “.and gropes for a good reason (line 9). Not being
subtle or articulate, he can say only “Because he was my foe.//Just so: my foe of
course he was;// That's clear enough” (lines 10-12). These short bursts of language
indicate that he cannot explain things to himself or to anyone else except in the most
obvious and trite terms, and in apparent embarrassment he inserts “of course” as an
expected way of emphasizing hostility even though he felt no hostility toward the
man he killed.
This is a rather bitter poem showing the stupidity of war, and demolishing belief
in the patriotic motives of those who confront one another in battle. The narrator
finds no good reason for his action; Hardy implies that there is no good reason. The
short lines, simple rhyme scheme, and everyday language make the piece almost
nursery rhyme like in simplicity.
The narrator concludes with a repetition of the contrast between his treatment of
the man he killed and how he might have shared hospitality with him in other
circumstances, or even been ready to extend charity to him. He prefaces this with
the statement that war is “quaint and curious”, as if to say, a funny old thing. This
tends to show war as innocuous and acceptable, but the events narrated in the
poem, as well as the reader's general knowledge of war, make it clear that conflict is
far from “quaint and curious”.
This poem shows the power of Hardy's dramatic argument in the poem. Hardy
does not establish closely detailed reasons against war as a policy, but rather
dramatizes the idea that all political arguments are unimportant in view of the central
and glaring brutality of war — the killing of human beings by human beings. Hardy's
speaker does not seem able to express deep feelings; rather he is confused and
perplexed because he is an average sort whose idea of life is to live and let live, and
enjoy a drink in a bar with friends. But it is this very commonness that stresses the
point that everyone is victimized by war — both those who die and those who are
forced to kill. Once the poem is finished, the thoughtful reader reflects that it is a
powerful argument for peace and reconciliation 

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Nurindah – Stylistic Features of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He`Killed”

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Nurindah – Stylistic Features of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He`Killed”