War+is+Kind

  **Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind**

 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.

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.

Questions:
 * 1) What is the subject of the poem?
 * 2) To what three people are the parts of this poem addressed?
 * 3) What repetition did you notice in the poem? What might be its intended purpose?
 * 4) Why did Stephen Crane use the word "kind" to describe the war?
 * 5) Analyze the poem in terms of its structure, its themes, and its imagery. If you're stuck on themes consider God's absence indifference of nature, or the ironies of war. What is ironic about the poem? How does Crane criticize the romantic hero?