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Paul Trimor Ms. Funsch ENG 321 17 October 2011 Analysis of Do not weep maiden, for war is kind During the Civil War, an onslaught of propaganda convinced civilians that war was sincere to all. However, as time progressed, people began to realize that it was the exact opposite. Gun shots are fired repetitively; peoples heads are being shot at while cannons explode and there is little warning before a giant ball of metal hits you in the face. Stephen Crane faced the cruel effect of war when he spent 30 hours shipwrecked near Cuba after being attacked. Although Crane never experienced the full impact of war, he created numerous amounts of literary works that demonstrate its affects, such as Do no weep maiden, for war is kind. In this Poem, irony is used to mock the false advertising used during the Civil War. The writing in Stephen Cranes Do not weep maiden, for war is kind exhibits the cruel effect war has on ordinary people.

Crane sardonically admires war as if war is a great field in which god is present. Great is the Battle- God. And his kingdom a field were a thousand corpses lie (10). This so called great battlefield is Gods kingdom, Gods paradise, a place with no worry, devastation or any misconception. And yet, so many people are left dead on the cold, grotesque ground which is clammy from the sweat and blood and for what reason? Freedom? Pride? Honor? Think again. They fought for an unexplained glory that flew over them (4). Flew over like a faint blue jay during winter, unnoticeable and obscure. But thats fine, because war is kind, (1).

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(Sarcastically speaking) War is courteous; lots of brave men chose to be deployed into the battlefield in which glory is the only thing they fight for.

Crane describes the cruel injustice of their deaths emphasis how war doesnt give a damn about people. Imagine waiting for a loved one's return, but instead you receive news of their death. Imagine the man whom you thought is perfect in every way surrendering due to his cowardly behavior. "He threw his hands towards the sky" (2) begging for mercy when all of a sudden he is given a quick and severe blow to the head; and now his affrighted steel runs alone for it has no master to serve. Imagine your father, your role model, falling into a pit of poisonous gas "gulping then dying" (14) while he sees his last moments covered in yellow. During the Civil War, this was the fate of many men. All of these men had families whom cared deeply about them. War not only effects the people who are fighting but also the ones away from the battlefield.

War is pointless, and results to nothing but the broken hearts of many innocent people. If the agitprop during the Civil War had been truly honest, then the field of a thousand corpses would have not existed. You must experience war to its full extense to truly understand its cruelty, to Stephen Crane war was more than an event. It was a mission he needed to accomplish to warn people about its true brutality. Crane uses literature to display how war was cruel, hard, and definitely not kind.

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