by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

Language: English 
Our translations:  GER
Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have set us down to wet 
Right many a nipperkin!

But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.

 ... 

He thought he'd enlist perhaps,
Offhand like - just as I -
Was out of work, had sold his traps,
No other reason why.

Yes, quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down 
You'd treat, if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown.

Composition:

    Set to music by Garth Baxter (b. 1946), "The man he killed", stanzas 1-2,4-5 [ satb chorus and piano ], from The Battle Cry, no. 3

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Der Mann, den er erschoß", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Garth Baxter

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 113