Skip to content
QuillOak

Lyric Poem · Peace

In heaven

by Stephen Crane

1In heaven,

2Some little blades of grass

3Stood before God.

4"What did you do?"

5Then all save one of the little blades

6Began eagerly to relate

7The merits of their lives.

8This one stayed a small way behind,

9Ashamed.

10Presently, God said,

11"And what did you do?"

12The little blade answered, "Oh my Lord,

13Memory is bitter to me,

14For, if I did good deeds,

15I know not of them."

16Then God, in all His splendor,

17Arose from His throne.

18"Oh, best little blade of grass!" He said.

Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.

Quick facts

Poem
In heaven
Poet
Stephen Crane
Length
18 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Peace, 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
PoetryDBIn heaven 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 e84816d63e1e20f2
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
Jurisdiction-specific, never a worldwide claimRights policyReport a text or rights issue

Keep reading

More poems about peace