Some Poems by Stephen Crane


                "I STOOD UPON A HIGH PLACE" 

                I stood upon a high place,
                And saw, below, many devils
                Running, leaping,
                And carousing in sin.
                One looked up, grinning,
                And said, "Comrade! Brother!"



               "I SAW A MAN PURSUING THE HORIZON" 

                I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
                Round and round they sped.
                I was disturbed at this;
                I accosted the man.
                "It is futile," I said,
                "You can never -- "

                "You lie," he cried,
                And ran on. 


                  "I MET A SEER" 

                I met a seer.
                He held in his hands
                The book of wisdom.
                "Sir," I addressed him,
                "Let me read."
                "Child -- " he began.
                "Sir," I said,
                "Think not that I am a child,
                For already I know much
                Of that which you hold.
                Aye, much."

                He smiled.
                Then he opened the book
                And held it before me. --
                Strange that I should have grown so suddenly blind. 


                "THE WAYFARER"

                The wayfarer,
                Perceiving the pathway to truth,
                Was struck with astonishment.
                It was thickly grown with weeds.
                "Ha," he said,
                "I see that none has passed here
                In a long time."
                Later he saw that each weed
                Was a singular knife.
                "Well," he mumbled at last,
                "Doubtless there are other roads."


                "A MAN SAID TO THE UNIVERSE"

                A man said to the universe:
                "Sir I exist!"
                "However," replied the universe,
                "The fact has not created in me
                A sense of obligation."