In "The Man He Killed" Thomas Hardy uses rhythm and sound, diction and characterization to give the reader insight as to the actions and thoughts of the speaker. Throughout the poem the speaker expresses his thoughts and feelings of the war he fought in. War is traumatic, tragic and memorable. Our logic of war is that of destruction, it kills many innocent people and ruins countries. The speaker experienced war both in the physical and emotional aspects and for many people this is unknown.
By using rhythm and sound, Hardy lets the reader know how the speaker is feeling. In the first stanza every second line rhymes, it sounds upbeat and perky:.
Had he and I but met.
By some old ancient inn.
We should have sat us down to wet.
Right many a nipperkin (1-4).
The whole stanza flows well and may suggest that before the war, the two men could have chatted over a pint of beer. In the third and forth stanza, the tone changes to one of confidence. In line eight "And killed him in his place" shows he is stating the facts. In line nine "because - / Because" and "my foe just so: my foe of course he was" (9 and 10), he stutters and repeats certain words which conveys the speaker is trying to justify his actions. The punctuation in the third and forth stanzas, especially the frequent pauses create a sense of hesitation for the reader. The monosyllables of the two last lines in the second stanza "I shot at him as he at me, / And killed him in his place" and the third line of the third stanza "Just so: my foe of course he was;" has a profound effect, concluding the man he shot was his enemy. Two exclamation points are used in lines four "Right many a nipperkin!" and seventeen "Yes; quaint and curious war is!" which gets the speaker very excited, clearly emphasizing his point. .
Diction is very important in this poem. The quotations in the first line of the first stanza let the reader know the speaker is speaking out loud to himself.