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Men Who March Away

BY THOMAS HARDY
What of the faith and fire within us
Men who march away
Ere the barn-cocks say
Night is growing gray,
Leaving all that here can win us;
What of the faith and fire within us
Men who march away?
Is it a purblind prank, O think you,
Friend with the musing eye,
Who watch us stepping by
With doubt and dolorous sigh?
Can much pondering so hoodwink you!
Is it a purblind prank, O think you,
Friend with the musing eye?
Nay. We well see what we are doing,
Though some may not see—
Dalliers as they be—
England’s need are we;
Her distress would leave us rueing:
Nay. We well see what we are doing,
Though some may not see!
In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just,
And that braggarts must
Surely bite the dust,
Press we to the field ungrieving,
In our heart of hearts believing
Victory crowns the just.
Hence the faith and fire within us
Men who march away
Ere the barn-cocks say
Night is growing gray,
Leaving all that here can win us;
Hence the faith and fire within us
Men who march away.

“Men who march away” isa poem by Thomas Hardy, he is one of the most well known poet and novelist in literary history, the poem use personification, metaphor and repetition to express the worry but heroic spirit of the soldier, but also satire the useless and cruel of the government.

In the first stanza “Ere the barn cocks say night is growing gray”these two lines use personification and metaphor to describe a image of soldiers marching before dawn, it reflects the emotionless of the government because they force people to go fight in such a early time, the five, six and seventh line is a description of the mental movement of the soldiers, would the solution of the war really change even if they fight hard? Does it really worth it?

In the second stanza, the author change the direction to the reader, the stanza use repetition to indirect describe that there are many people watching them, it also reflects the information obstacle between the soldiers, government and citizens.
The third stanza use repetition to highlight and insinuate the soldiers that didn’t know there destiny, and just follow the crowd, but this also embody the unprofessional spirit education to the soldiers.

The forth stanza express the heroic spirit of the soldiers, it use personification (Victory crowns the just)and exaggeration (And that braggarts must Surely bite the dust)to express there spirit and sarcasm the braggarts, in this line, braggarts symbolize many people like the generals, because they claim that they could win the war, but they could have a big chance to lose, another kind is the government, they say they will gave better live to all of the citizens and collect lot of taxes, but they still have a big chance to gave the citizens bad lives.

The last stanza repeats the first line, this line is like a big scene shot after the end of a movie, it changes the direction from the mental movement of the soldiers back to the real environment, connecting the whole poem all together.

In conclusion(conclution), this is a short poem but express big problems, the poem use a vision of a normal soldier, with the good use of personification, metaphor and repetition, it expressed ruthless and useless of the government, making it a very powerful poem.

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Comments (2)

  1. 👍 👍 making considerable progress in your analyses!

    I am going to point out that the repeated phrase “Nay. We well see what we are doing,” Means that those speaking this line understand what they are doing. I interpret this as meaning the soldiers understand the horrors they will face but do it anyway because of “England’s need” and “distress”. In other words their desire to help their country, their patriotism.

    I’m not sure you’ve fully understood these lines: “Victory crowns the just,

    And that braggarts must

    Surely bite the dust,”

    It’s about the belief of the soldiers, that they can win because they represent “the just” and that the bad guys (those ‘braggarts’ they go to fight) will die (to kick the dust is an idiom meaning to die).