Poet · Gilded Age
Stephen Crane
American poet · 1871–1900
In the DesertA Man Said to the UniverseWar Is Kind
Stephen Crane wrote The Red Badge of Courage, the great novel of Civil War combat, without ever having seen a battle. His poetry was even stranger for its time: The Black Riders (1895) is a book of tiny, unrhymed, flint-hard parables that baffled the 1890s and reads like twentieth-century poetry arrived decades early.
In "A Man Said to the Universe," the universe replies that the man's existence "has not created in me / A sense of obligation" — cosmic indifference delivered with a shrug. Crane lived as recklessly as he wrote, working as a war correspondent and surviving a shipwreck, and died of tuberculosis in Germany at 28.
24 poems by Stephen Crane
Full text, free to read — all in the public domain.
- There Was a Man Who Lived a Life of FireThere was a man who lived a life of fire.…8 lines
- A man went before a strange GodA man went before a strange God —…14 lines
- A spirit spedA spirit sped…22 lines
- "And the sins of the fathers shall be""And the sins of the fathers shall be…10 lines
- Ay, workman, make me a dreamAy, workman, make me a dream,…7 lines
- God lay dead in heavenGod lay dead in heaven;…18 lines
- "I have heard the sunset song of the birches,""I have heard the sunset song of the birches,…10 lines
- I was in the darknessI was in the darkness;…5 lines
- In a lonely placeIn a lonely place,…11 lines
- In heavenIn heaven,…18 lines
- "It was wrong to do this," said the angel"It was wrong to do this," said the angel.…10 lines
- Once I saw mountains angryOnce I saw mountains angry,…11 lines
- Places among the starsPlaces among the stars,…12 lines
- Supposing that I should have the courageSupposing that I should have the courage…10 lines
- The chatter of a death-demon from a tree-topThe chatter of a death-demon from a tree-top…13 lines
- The Ocean Said to Me OnceThe ocean said to me once,…19 lines
- The successful man has thrust himselfThe successful man has thrust himself…24 lines
- The trees in the garden rained flowersThe trees in the garden rained flowers.…28 lines
- There was a man and a womani…23 lines
- Tradition, thou art for suckling childrenTradition, thou art for suckling children,…5 lines
- Two or three angelsTwo or three angels…8 lines
- Upon the road of my lifeUpon the road of my life,…19 lines
- War Is KindDo not weep, maiden, for war is kind.…26 lines
- When a people reach the top of a hillWhen a people reach the top of a hill,…34 lines