Poetry Comparision - Coming Home (by Curtis Bennet) & The Man He Killed (by Thomas Hardy)

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Compare and Contrast Two Poems

I have been studying two poems – Coming Home by Curtis Bennet and The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy.

The theme of both poems is war and death. The most obvious example of this is in The Man He Killed: ‘quaint and curious war is’. However in Coming Home the theme is not directly referred to. Instead phrases such as ‘final military formation’ and ‘who sent them to fight’ are used. My first impression is that Coming Home is more sensitive than The Man He Killed because I believe that the poet is trying to give a shred of dignity to the ‘dead young boys and girls’ who needlessly perished by not mentioning the way in which they were killed. On the other hand, The Man He Killed is more abrasive which is particularly illustrated when you hear the rhyming as it makes the poem seem immature and vulgar.

The Man He Killed is written in complete contrast to Coming Home, not only because of the tone but also because of the person who would tell you the poem. The Man He Killed is written from the point of view of somebody who has been to war and experienced the feeling of killing a man. However, Coming Home seems to be written by an observer of war, someone who watches it happen but can not do anything to prevent the losses. This characterisation is ironic as Thomas Hardy, from what we know, didn’t go to war. On the other hand Curtis Bennet is a war veteran and is aware of the horrors of war. I think that it is for this reason that, although Coming Home is written by an onlooker, it has more provocative language and forces the reader to consider the deeper implications of war. This continues to show throughout the poem as the poet’s thoughts become more apparent. The emotions are very clear, especially when he says ‘the politicians who killed them’ which is bitter and shows contempt for the people who created this war. Also he speaks abut the families of the ‘young boys and girls’ which can create an image of regret and blinding pain for losing a child. This can be linked with the ‘gray steel womb’ to create a feeling of innocence as they were only babies in the poet’s eyes. The word ‘womb’ suggests that they were torn away from their mothers because the womb is supposed to be a safe haven for a child and the fact that they are no longer alive suggests that they should have been protected for a little while longer. ‘Steel’ could represent the families trying to block out the pain; they’re attempting to distance themselves from being human and become unresponsive and hard like metal. This is a slight similarity to the man he killed in The Man He Killed – he has no feeling and no identity. At the same time, it’s a contrast because we regret the deaths of the ‘youthful’ people yet we hardly spare a second thought for the soldier that was killed by Thomas Hardy.

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The themes of the poems vary vastly. In Coming Home, there are several different tones which change as the poem progresses: ‘drape and caress the dull pewter boxes’ could be spoken in a hopeless tone as the flags are trying to comfort the pewter boxes which encase the ‘broken ashen remains’ but it is too late and the comfort that they needed when they were alive wasn’t there. This then becomes bitter and contemptuous when he lays the blame on ‘the politicians who killed them’. The final tone of the poem is peace when ‘so quietly they lie, so ...

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