Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind

by Stephen Crane

Start Free Trial

What are the literary devices inside the poem?

Expert Answers

An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

 

This is a harsh, satirical poem that means just the opposite of what it says - so this is an example of "contrast". There is the use of "apostrophe" because the poet addresses three people that are not present, the maiden, the child and the mother - all people who suffer when their "men" are killed by war, and yet, war is kind -- NOT! There is a lot of imagery - for one, there is the image of death, presented by the following:

Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone

We see that the maiden's love died - probably shot, fell off the horse, and the horse ran on.

There is an example of personification:

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,

Drums can boom, but they cannot be "hoarse" because they are not human.

There is a metaphor:

Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom -
A field where a thousand corpses lie

The "kingdon" of the battle god is the field of battle where thousands lie dead.

Pretty grim, huh?

There is alliteration:

tumbled in the yellow trenches

"tumbled" in the "trenches"

Also, more alliteration:

heart hung humble

You can go through the poem and pick out more images, metaphors, etc.

I HATE this poem because my son is in the Navy, currently deployed, so it is hard to read -- but, that's the point. It evokes emotion, wouldn't you agree?

See eNotes Ad-Free

Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.

Get 48 Hours Free Access
Approved by eNotes Editorial Team