This is a practice question tailored towards GCSE and IGCSE students who are studying on exam boards such as AQA, OCR, Edexcel, Cambridge and WJEC. It can be set in timed conditions (45 minutes) or just used as a general practice for planning and writing. 

 

Thanks for reading! If you’re interested in a complete Unseen Poetry + Prose course, you can find it by clicking here.

For all our English Language and Literature courses, click here.

 

Question:

How does the poet strikingly describe his experience of war in ‘The Man He Killed’? 

 

The Man He Killed 

“Had he and I but met

            By some old ancient inn,

We should have sat 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.

            “I shot him dead because —

            Because he was my foe,

Just so: my foe of course he was;

            That’s clear enough; although

            “He thought he’d ‘list, perhaps,

            Off-hand 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.”

What is Unseen Poetry?

Vocabulary 

Inn – an old name for a pub, where you can stay 

Nipperkin – a small cup of alcohol 

Infantry – a soldier that marches on foot 

Half a crown – an old-fashioned coin

 

Thanks for reading! If you’re interested in a complete Unseen Poetry + Prose course, you can find it by clicking here.

For all our English Language and Literature courses, click here.