Stephen Crane's War Is Kind

Just as many other authors have done, Stephen Crane writes about the Civil War while conveying universal themes about it. When he wrote this poem, it was about the Civil War and how it is the exact opposite of something that's kind. In the poem “War is Kind” by Stephen Crane, the three main themes he discusses are about warfare, the home front, and patriotism. These three themes are conveyed throughout much Civil War literature, and Crane conveys it in an ironic way. Nevertheless, the themes he wrote about are still very clear and universal.

Moreover, when Crane writes about warfare, he paints it in a negative light. He says that war tears relationships apart, causes heartbreak and nothing else but death. In lines 6-8 of the poem “War is Kind” it states, “Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,/Little souls who thirst for fight,/These men were born to drill and die.” Crane is saying that there are people are willing to send men to their deaths, as if they were like toy soldiers. War is never a favoriable thing, and Crane is very much against it because he believes all it causes is agony to all.

Since soldiers are born to “drill and die”, it seems as if they are not fighting for a particular cause. In line 9 of Stephen Crane’s poem it states, “The unexplained glory flies above them.”. Crane is saying that a flag is just “unexplained glory” and that these men will die for it as long as it has a “patriotic” cause no matter what the consequences are. Despite how war is depicted as a patriotic thing, people will continue to die in remorse for no real