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Lyric Poem · Nature

Once I saw mountains angry

by Stephen Crane

1Once I saw mountains angry,

2And ranged in battle-front.

3Against them stood a little man;

4Aye, he was no bigger than my finger.

5I laughed, and spoke to one near me,

6"Will he prevail?"

7"Surely," replied this other;

8"His grandfathers beat them many times."

9Then did I see much virtue in grandfathers —

10At least, for the little man

11Who stood against the mountains.

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Quick facts

Poem
Once I saw mountains angry
Poet
Stephen Crane
Length
11 lines
Form
Lyric Poem
Themes
Nature, War & Remembrance

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
PoetryDBOnce I saw mountains angry 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 a27eaaf00f0c2de7
Editorial handling
Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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