Transcript of Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.

Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War is Kind

By Stephen Crane
Form, Subject, Speaker, and Tone
By Jillian McDaniel and Andrew Staley
The subject of this stanza happens to be referring to a maiden who lost her lover during a battle, who is
obviously weeping after receiving the news. War is Kind is also repeated many times throughout the
poem, giving it continual irony
This line is referring to the maiden's lover and describing how he died on the battle field, a wild and
frightening death
Free verse
Form
Subject
War is ironically described as fine when told to those who care about the men whom have died
Speaker
anti-war patron
These lines are repeated throughout the poem to show irony as war is not truly kind. Like someone who
repeats to oneself to help ensure truth when it truly is not
Since the horse has no rider, we can assume that the man who is being referred to is dead
Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.
Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,

Little souls who thirst for fight,
These men were born to drill and die.
The unexplained glory flies above them,
Great is the Battle-God, great, and his Kingdom --
A field where a thousand corpses lie.

1
Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Swift blazing flag of the regiment,

Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button

On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind

Because your lover threw wild hands towards the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone
Do not weep
War is kind.
Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment
Little souls who thirst for fight
These men were born to drill and die
The unexplained glory flies above them
Great is the Battle-God, great, and his Kingdom-
A field where a thousand corpses lies
Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War is Kind

2
Do not weep, babe, for war is kind
Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches
Raged at his breast, gulped and died
Do not weep.
War is kind.
Swift blazing flag of the regiment
Eagle with crest of red and gold
These men were born to drill and die
Point for them the virtue of slaughter
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lies
Mother who's heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son
Do not weep.
War is kind.
regiment is also repeated from stanza to stanza. The booming drum refers to the drummer-boys which
keep the army in step while they are marching or the orderly conduct of the army men which contrast
with the devastation of war
Tone
Mocking, Minimalistic, Cynical, Sarcastic, Ironic
This is ironic, because it is giving the idea that it was the men's idea to start fighting, not the leader. It is
also important that he calls them little souls in that it gives the impression of the thought that their lives
are meaningless
This line was repeated several times in also to signify the small lives of the soldiers in the view of a
leader figure: that they are soldiers and nothing more.
This may be referring to a flag flying overhead, which would indicate that the soldiers don't know what
they're fighting for, or it could be referring to a bomb flying overhead, coming to kill them all
"drill and die" = alliteration
The Battle God is referring to the military leader who is portrayed as God as he is in control of all the
men on the field. His "Kingdom" is also symbolic as the explains
This line is a continuation of the previous line where it says the "Battle-God's Kingdom." The corps-
ridden field is his kingdom as it is where his power is greatest. This line is also repeated to enforce this
thought

3
This line is speaking to a baby who has never had the chance to know his or her father before he was
killed in battle, but the speaker is consoling the baby with the fact that war is kind.
"Yellow trenches" may be referring to mustard gas from World War I, indicating that that time period
was of importance to the speaker as well as the fact that he "tumbled" in describes the baby's death
This line is a continuation of the last line, adding to the description of the baby's father's death.
"gulped and died" = consonance
Another of the repeats of this line, helping to set the idea in stone
"swift blazing flag" = Imagery
Regiment is once again repeated in this line as well as imagery in the description of the flag which
continues into the next line
symbolism
In this line, there is much symbolism. The eagle is a symbol for courage which often comes with battle,
as it is a necessity to have while fighting. Red represents the blood of battle and gold represents the
glory that comes with fighting, which the author speaks of later
This line is repeated again in this stanza, once again reenforcing the idea of the ironic claim to the
irrelevancy of every single soldier
"virtue of slaughter" is a contradictory because virtue is strictness to moral standards while slaughter, by
definition, is immoral.
He is encouraging them to kill in war as there is a ironic "excellence" to it.
This is another repeated line used to emphasize the loss of war and the results of the "excellence of
killing"
In this stanza, the poem is directed towards a mother who has just been told her son has died in battle.
"splendid shroud" = oxymoron
This is a continuation of the last line from the stanza, saying that the mother was as humble as a button
on the shroud of her son, which would be minimal as he was in the army and little respect is given.
This last statement is perhaps the most ironic as it sums up all the poem is about: war is truly not kind
and there is reason to weep, both for those who died and the families they left behind.
Theme
war is, in truth, cruel. He expresses this through sarcasm and irony as well as dramatic imagery to show
that war is not kind.
NoteMost of this poem was imagery as it is showing what it is like on the battle field, which requires
physical descriptions like "a field where a thousand corpses lie."