“I shot him dead because —
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That’s clear enough; although
The speaker addresses the confrontation between him and an enemy combatant in a war zone. He tries to justify his action by establishing the soldier as a threat for his life was at stake too. Though the rules of engagement affirm that his action is called for, the speaker is remorseful. He views the enemy as innocent just as he is in the grand scheme of things. They are in a battle to serve their flag and the interests of their nations. The playful rhyme and the dark subject matter create a tension that makes the imagery all the more so disconcerting.
Was out of work — had sold his traps —
No other reason why.
The speaker finds commonality between him and his foe regarding their drives to enlist in the military. He suspects that the desperation of unemployment forced them to join the war in order to provide. He is disillusioned by the realities of war due to a lack of concrete reason to serve beyond desperation. Thus, the speaker displays empathy towards the enemy since he understands the predicament they both were in. They never enlisted to kill a fellow man but to earn an honest living serving their nation.
“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.”
The speaker stresses that our shared humanity exists despite the complexities of enmity and patriotism. He attests that war has a means of sabotaging this commonality because of their duties to the flag. In this stanza, he expresses that a change of scenario would properly foster a friendship between the two men. In essence, the men have a lot in common and if they met at an inn or pub they will have a rapport. He acknowledges the senselessness of war in how common humanity is sacrificed in the name of patriotism.
