Free Verse · Life
There Was a Man Who Lived a Life of Fire
by Stephen Crane · 1895
There was a man who lived a life of fire.
Even upon the fabric of time,
Where purple becomes orange
And orange purple,
This life glowed,
A dire red stain, indelible;
Yet when he was dead,
He saw that he had not lived.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“There Was a Man Who Lived a Life of Fire” by Stephen Crane — quilloak.com/poems/a-life-of-fire
Quick facts
- Poem
- There Was a Man Who Lived a Life of Fire
- Poet
- Stephen Crane
- Published
- 1895
- Length
- 8 lines
- Form
- Free Verse, Short Poems
- Themes
- Life, Short
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Stephen Crane1871–1900
- Source record
- PoetryDBThere Was a Man Who Lived a Life of Fire by stephen-crane, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1895
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 2542daf294450024…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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