Lyric Poem · Peace
A spirit sped
1A spirit sped
2Through spaces of night;
3And as he sped, he called,
4"God! God!"
5He went through valleys
6Of black death-slime,
7Ever calling,
8"God! God!"
9Their echoes
10From crevice and cavern
11Mocked him:
12"God! God! God!"
13Fleetly into the plains of space
14He went, ever calling,
15"God! God!"
16Eventually, then, he screamed,
17Mad in denial,
18"Ah, there is no God!"
19A swift hand,
20A sword from the sky,
21Smote him,
22And he was dead.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“A spirit sped” by Stephen Crane — quilloak.com/poems/a-spirit-sped
Quick facts
- Poem
- A spirit sped
- Poet
- Stephen Crane
- Length
- 22 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Peace, Death & Loss, Nature
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
- PoetryDBA spirit sped by stephen-crane, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 3da05a7fb564294c…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.