The Man He Killed

Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

But ranged as infantry,
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,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although

He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like – just as I –
Was out of work – had sold his traps –
No other reason why.

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

© Penguin Books, 1978.

De anthologie bevat de onderstaande gedichten:
• ‘Abbey-Mason, The’; ‘After a Journey’; ‘After a Romantic Day’; ‘Afternoon Service at Mellstock’; ‘After the Last Breath’; ‘After the Visit’; ‘Afterwards’; ‘Albuera’; ‘Alike and Unlike’; ‘Ancient to Ancients, An’; ‘And There was a Great Calm’; ‘Anniversary, An’; ‘Any Little Old Song’; ‘Apostrophe to an Old Psalm Tune’; ‘Aquae Sulis´; ´At an Inn´; ´At a Pause in a Country Dance´; ´At a Seaside Town in 1869´; ´At Castle Boterel´; ´At Day-Close in November´; ´At Lulworth Cove a Century Back´; ´At Madame Tussaud’s in Victorian Years’; ‘At Mayfair Lodgings’; ‘At Middle-Field Gate in February’; ‘At Tea’; ‘At the Aquatic Sports’; ‘At the Draper’s; ‘At the Royal Academy’; ‘At the Word ‘Farewell’; ‘At Waking’; ‘At Wyngard’s Gap’; August Midnight, An’; ‘Autumn in King’s Hintock Park’;
• ‘Backward Spring, A’; ‘Ballad-Singer, The’; ‘Barthélémon at Vauxhall’; ‘Beeny Cliff’; ‘Before Marching and After’; ‘Bereft’; ‘Beyond the Last Lamp’; ‘Birds at Winter Nightfall’; ‘Bird-Scene at a Rural Wedding, A’; ‘Blinded Bird, The’; ‘Bride-Night Fire, The’; ‘Bridge of Lodi, The’; ‘Bridge of the Beresina, The’; ‘Broken Appointment, A’; ‘Budmouth Dears’; ‘By Her Aunt’s Grave’;
• ‘Caged Goldfinch, The’; ‘Caged Thrush Feed and Home Again, The’; ‘Cathedral Façade at Midnight, A’; ‘Change, The’; ‘Channel Firing’; ‘Chapel-Organist, The’; ‘Children and Sir Nameless, The’; ‘Chimes Play ‘Life’s a Bumper!, The’; ‘Choirmaster Burial, The’; ‘Chosen, The’; ‘Christmas: 1924’; ‘Church Romance, A’; ‘Circular, A’; ‘Clock of the Years, The’; ‘Clock-Winder, The’; ‘Collector Cleans His Picture, The’; ‘Colonel’s Soliloquy, The’; ‘Coming up Oxford Street: Evening’; ‘Commonplace Day, A’; ‘Conformers, The’; ‘Contretemps, The’; ‘Convergence of the Twain, The’; ‘Copying Architecture in an Old Minster’; ‘Countenance’; ‘Country Wedding, The’; ‘Curate’s Kindness, The’; ‘Curtains Are Now Drawn, The’;
• ‘Dance at the Phoenix, The’; ‘Darkling-Thrush, The’; ‘Dad Quire, The’; ‘Death-Day Recalled, A’; ‘Departure’; ‘Difference, The’; ‘Discouragement’; ‘Discovery, The’; ‘Division, The’; ‘Domicilium’; ‘Drawing Details in an Old Church’; ‘Dream Is – Which?, The’; ‘Dream or No, A’; ‘Drummer Hodge’; ‘Duettist to Her Painoforte, A’; ‘During Wind and Rain’;
• ‘East-End Curate, An’; ‘Embarcation’; ‘Enemy’s Portrait, The’; ‘Epitaph’; ‘Epitaph on a Pessimist’; ‘Exeunt Omnes’;
• Faintheart in a Railway Train’; ‘Farm-Woman’s Winter, The’; ‘Fetching Her’; ‘Figure in the Science, The’; ‘Five Students, The’; ‘Former Beauties’; ‘Friends Beyond’; ‘Frozen Greenhouse, The’;
• ‘Genoa and the Mediterranean’; ‘Gentleman’s Second-Hand Suit, A’; ‘George Meredith’; ‘Ghost of the Past, The’; ‘Glimpse, The’; ‘God’s Funeral’; ‘Going, The’; ‘Going of the Battery, The’; ‘Great Things’; ‘Green Slates’;
• ‘Had You Wept’; ‘Hap’; ‘Harbour Bridge, The’; ‘Haunter, The’; ‘He Abjures Love’; ‘He Never Expected Much’; ‘Her Definition’; ‘He Prefers Her Earthly’; ‘He Resolves to Say No More’; ‘Her Second Husband Hears Her Story’; ‘Heredity’; ‘Her Initials’; ‘His Country’; ‘His Heart’; ‘His Visitor’; ‘Honeymoon Time at an Inn’; ‘House of Hospitalities, The’; ‘Hurried Meeting, A’;
• ‘If It’s Ever Spring Again’; ‘I Found Her Out There’; ‘If You Had Known’; ‘I Look into My Glass’; ‘Imagining’; ‘Impercipient, The’; ‘In a Cathedral City’; ‘In a Waiting-Room’; ‘In a Wood’; ‘In Church’; ‘In Death Divided’; ‘I Need Not Go’; ‘In Front of the Landscape’; ‘In Her Precincts’; ‘In Tenebris I-III’; ’Interloper, The’; ‘In the British Museum’; ‘In the Cemetery’; ‘In the Garden’; ‘In the Nuptial Chamber’; ‘In the Old Theatre, Fiesole’; ‘In the Servants’ Quarters’; ‘In the Study’; ‘In the Vaulted Way’; ‘In the Time of ‘The Breaking of Nations’; ‘It Never Looks Like Summer’;
• ‘Jog-Trot Pair, A’; ‘Jubilate’; ‘Jubilee of a Magazine, The’; ‘Julie-Jane’;
• ‘Lament’; ‘Last Journey, A’; ‘Last Look round St Martin’s Fair’; ‘Last Performance, The’; ‘Last Signal, The’; Last Week in October’; ‘Last Words to a Dumb Friend’; ‘Lausanne: In Gibbon’s Old Garden: 11-12 p.m.’; ‘Let Me Enjoy’; ‘Liddell and Scott’; ‘Life and Death at Sunrise’; ‘Light Snow-Fall after Frost, A’; ‘Lines’; ‘Logs on the Hearth’; ‘Looking at a Picture on an Anniversary’; ‘Lost Love’; ‘Louie’; ‘Love the Monopolist’; ‘Lying Awake’;
• ‘Man, A’; ‘Man He Killed, The’; ‘Marble Tablet, The’; ‘Marked Face, The’; ‘Memorial Brass 186-, The’; ‘Men Who March Away’; ‘Merrymaking in Question, A’; ‘Middle-Age Enthusiasms’; ‘Midnight on the Great Western’; ‘Mismet’; ‘Molly Gone’; ‘Moments of Vision’; ‘Monument-Maker, The’; ‘Mother Mourns, The’; ‘Mound, The’; ‘Musical Box, The’; ‘Music in a Snowy Street’; ’Mute Opinion’; ’My Spirit Will Not Haut the Mound’;
• ‘Nature’s Questioning’; ‘Near Lanivet, 1872’; ‘Neutral Tones’; ‘News for Her Mother’; ’New Toy, The’; ‘Night of the Dance, The’; ‘Night of Trafalgar, The’; ‘Night-Time in Mid-Fall’; ‘Nobody Comes’; ‘No Buyers’;
• ‘Often when Warring’; ‘Old Excursions’; ‘Old Furniture’; ‘Old Gown, The’; ‘Old Workman, The’; ‘On a Heath’; ‘On a Midsummer Eve’; ‘On an Invitation to the United States’; ‘One We Knew’; ‘On One Who Lived and Died Where He Was Born’; ‘On Sturminster Foot-Bridge’; ‘On the Departure Platform’; ‘On the Doorstep’; ‘On the Esplanade’; ‘On the Portrait of a Woman about to Be Hanged’; ‘On the Way’; ‘Overlooking the River Stour’; ‘Oxen, The’;
• ‘Panthera’; ‘Paphian Ball, The’; ‘Paths of Former Time’; ‘Paying Calls’; ‘Pedestrian, The’; ‘Pedigree, The’; ‘Penance’; ‘Phantom Horsewoman, The’; ‘Photograph, The’; ‘Pine Planters, The’; ‘Pity of It, The’; ‘Place on the Map, The’; ‘Places’; ‘Poet, A’; ‘Private Man on Public Men, A’; ‘Procession of Dead Days, A’; ‘Prospect, The’; ‘Proud Songsters’;
• ‘Quid Hic Agis?’;
• ‘Rain on a Grave’; ‘Rambler, The’; ‘Rash Bride, The’; ‘Recalcitrants, The’; ‘Refusal, A’; ‘Rejected Member’s Wife, The’; ‘’Reminder, The’; ‘Reminiscences of a Dancing ‘Man’; ‘Respectable Burgher, The’; ‘Rival, The’; ‘Road from Smolensko into Lithuania, The’; ‘Road to Waterloo, The’; ‘Roman Road, The’; ‘Rome: At the Pyramid of Cestius near the Graves of Shelley and Keats’; ‘Rome: Building a New Street in the Ancient Quarter’; ‘Rome: On the Palatine’; ‘Rome: The Vatican: Sala delle Muse’; ‘Ruined Maid, The’;
• ‘Sailor’s Mother, The’; ‘St Launce’s Revisited’; ‘Schreckhorn, The’; ‘Second Attempt, The’; ‘Second Visit, The’; ‘Seen by the Waits’; ‘Self-Unconscious’; ‘Self-Unseeing, The’; ‘Sergeant’s Song, The’; ‘Seventy-Four and Twenty’; ‘Shadow on the Stone, The’; ‘She Charged Me’; ‘Sheep Fair, A’; ‘She Hears the Storm’; ‘Shelley’s Skylark’; ‘She Opened the Door’; ‘She Who Saw Not’; ‘Shortening Days at the Homestead’; ‘Shut out That Moon’; ‘Singer Asleep, A’; ‘Snow in the Suburbs’; ‘Something Tapped’; ‘Something that Saved Him, The’; ‘Song to an Old Burden’; ‘So Various’; ‘Spell-bound Palace, A’; ‘Spell of the Rose, The’; ‘Squire Hooper’; ‘Standing by the Mantelpiece’; ‘Strange House, The’; ‘Summer Schemes’; ‘Sun on the Bookcase, The’; ‘Sunshade, The’; ‘Superseded, The’;
• ‘Tess’s Lament’; ‘Thing Unplanned, The’; ‘Thoughts of Phena’; ‘Throwing a Tree’; ‘Thunderstorm in Town, A’; ‘Timing Her’; ‘To an Actress’; ‘Tolerance’; ‘To Lizbie Brown’; ‘To Louisa in the Lane’; ‘To Meet, or Otherwise’; ‘To My Father’s Violin’; ‘Torn Letter, The’; ‘To Shakespeare’; ‘Trampwoman’s Tragedy, a’; ‘Transformations’; ‘Two Lips’; ‘Two Serenades’; ‘Two-Years’ Idyll, A’;
• ‘Under the Waterfall’; ‘Unkindly May, An’; ‘Unknowing’; ‘Upbraiding, An’; ‘Upper Birch-Leaves, The’;
• ‘Vagrant’s Song’; ‘Voice, The’; ‘Voice of Things, The’; ‘Voices of Things Growing in a Churchyard’;
• ‘Walk, The’; ‘We Are Getting to the End’; ‘Weary Walker, The’; ‘Weathers’; ‘We Sat at the Window’; ‘Wessex Heights’; ‘West-of-Wessex Girl, The’; ‘Wet August, A’; ‘Wet Night, A’; ‘When I Set out for Lyonesse’; ‘When Oats Were Reaped’; ‘Where the Picnic Was’; ‘Where They Lived’; ‘Who’s in the Next Room?’; ‘Wife and Honour, A’; ‘Wife in London, A’; ‘Wind’s Prophecy, The’; ‘Winter in Durnover Field’; ‘Winter Night in Woodland’; ‘Wistful Lady, The’; ‘Without Ceremony’; ‘Wives in the Sere’; ‘Woman I Met, The’; ‘Wood Fire, The’; ‘Workbox, The’; ‘Year’s Awakening, The’; ‘Young Churchwarden, The’; ‘Young Glass-Stainer, The’; ‘Young Man’s Epigram on Existence, A’; ‘You on the Tower’; ‘Your Last Drive’; ‘You Were the Sort that Men Forget’.

ERK Niveau:

C1

Schrijver:

Thomas Hardy

Jaar van uitgave:

1928

Aantal pagina's:

462

Tijd waarin het verhaal zich afspeelt:

1850-1925

Plaats van handeling:

Meerdere plaatsen

Bijzonderheden:

Een dichtbundel met daarin de bekendste gedichten van Thomas Hardy.

IS HET BOEK VOOR JOU INTERESSANT?

De anthologie ‘Selected Poetry’ bevat de beroemdste gedichten van Thomas Hardy. Thomas Hardy, die zijn poëzie belangrijker vond dan zijn (zeer populaire) romans, schreef veel gedichten. Zijn belangrijkste thema’s zijn: de Engelse natuur en het landschap, de gewone man in die natuur, het platteland, de liefde, geboorte, ziekte, dood en geluk.

WAT MOET JE WETEN?

‘Selected Poetry’ is zo nu en dan erg lastig. Maar er staan geweldig mooie gedichten in de bundel die nog altijd heel veel mensen aanspreken. Met name de gedichten over de ‘gewone’ man en vrouw zijn het meest indrukwekkend.

DE TAAL

De taal van ‘Selected Poetry’ is vaak lastig en je moet een grote kennis van Engelse taal hebben. Toch zijn er uitzonderingen (‘The Man He Killed’, bijvoorbeeld).
De gedichten rijmen meestal, ze hebben een strak metrum en ze zijn vaak kort.

DE TAAL EN HET VERHAAL

Qua taal is de bundel soms moeilijk.
Dat geldt minder voor de gedichten zelf. Het zijn vaak verhalende gedichten die een probleem of een onderwerp aanroeren waar Mr Hardy iets zinnig over wilde zeggen: het verdwijnende landschap, de onrechtvaardigheid van het leven of van het lot, enzovoort.
Op basis van deze eigenschappen is ‘Selected Poetry’ een boek met een literair niveau C 5a en een taal-(ERK-)niveau C1.

Schrijfstijl:

De gedichten zijn zeker de moeite waard om te lezen: de taal is prachtig en de gedichten zijn zonder uitzondering met zorg geschreven.

Actie:

‘Selected Poetry’ bevat gedichten met weinig actie.

Tijd:

De gebeurtenissen in de roman spelen zich af in de jaren 1870-1930.

Plaats:

De setting van ‘Selected Poetry’ is meerdere plaatsen: vooral het zuiden van Engeland (‘Wessex’) maar ook andere landen in Europa (Italië, Frankrijk, Duitsland, Zwitserland).

Verhaallijn:

Er zijn veel verschillende verhaallijnen in de gedichten in ‘Selected Poetry’.

Verteller:

De bundel heeft ik-vertellers en auctoriale vertellers.

Hoofdkarakters:

Het hoofdkarakter in ‘Selected Poetry’ is:
• De ik-verteller, de dichter.

Bijfiguren:

De belangrijkste bijfiguren in ‘Selected Poetry’ zijn:
• Familieleden en vrienden van de dichter;
• Gewone mensen, vaak landarbeiders of handarbeiders.

Website:

https://www.hardysociety.org/life/poems/

Film:

De gedichten uit ‘Selected Poetry’ zijn niet verfilmd.

Overig:

‘Selected Poetry’ is één van de vele verzamelbundels met daarin de beroemdste gedichten van Thomas Hardy. Uiteraard zijn er ook ‘Collected Works’ beschikbaar – en op het Internet zijn alle gedichten van Thomas Hardy te vinden.

Link naar pagina over auteur

-->Informatie over Thomas Hardy.

Leessuggesties:

Als je dit een mooi boek vond, zou je ook kunnen lezen:
• Idylls of the King van Alfred, Lord Tennyson
• Songs of Innocence and Experience van William Blake
• New Selected Poems, 1966-1987 van Seamus Heaney

Citaat:

Neutral Tones

We stood by a pond that winter day,
And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;
– They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.

Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove
Over tedious riddles of years ago;
And some words played between us to and fro
On which lost the more by our love.

The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing
Alive enough to have strength to die;
And a grin of bitterness swept thereby
Like an ominous bird a-wing …

Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,
And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me
Your face, and the God curst sun, and a tree,
And a pond edged with grayish leaves.
(p.55)

Vragen over het boek:

Analyseer de onderstaande gedichten:
1. ‘After a Journey’
2. ‘The Darkling-Thrush’
3. ‘The Man He Killed’
4. ‘Neutral Tones’