Poet and Author Steven Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900)

Have you read the classic novel The Red Badge of Courage by Steven Crane? It has been required reading at many high schools and colleges in past years. Crane also wrote the short stories “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” and “The Open Boat” as well as many others. However, I must admit to enjoying his atypical poetry the most.

I was first introduced to Steven Crane’s poems while taking a poetry course in college. I used the paperback version of The Mentor Book of Major American Poets, edited by Oscar Williams and Edwin Honig, 1962. As you can see in the photo, I have many sticky notes stuck to the pages for easy access to my favorite poems, which I still read.

Steven Crane’s poems are not long, but they stuck with me over the years. I can still recite his poem “Many Red Devils.” (It’s not really about devils. That’s a metaphor!) It is about writing from your heart, your soul. It is about opening up and being vulnerable, in my humble opinion. It goes like this:

Many Red Devils

Many red devils ran from my heart
And out onto the page.
They were so tiny
The pen could mash them.
And many struggled in the ink.
It was strange
To write in this red muck
Of things from my heart.

Another of Crane’s poems that made me ponder is as follows:

A Man Saw a Ball of Gold

A man saw a ball of gold in the sky;
He climbed for it,
And eventually he achieved it—
It was clay.

Now this is the strange part:
When the man went to the earth
And looked again,
Lo, there was the ball of gold.
Now this is the strange part:
It was a ball of gold.
Ay, by the heavens, it was a ball of gold.

I have to include a third poem that I found interesting. Remember to think in terms of metaphor while reading this poem. Poems are not always literal. Here it is:

In the Desert

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered,
“But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart.”

I like the easy writing style of Crane: open and not verbose. His language is pure and concise. There seems to be a quirky ending to his poems that remind me of flash fiction (very short-short stories that usually have a twist at the end).

I do enjoy other poets, but Crane’s poems seem to give me insight into his life and his struggles. They are short and relatable. The poems make me feel, as a writer, that I am not alone.

At least that’s how I feel today.

1) The Mentor Book of Major American Poets, edited by Oscar Williams and Edwin Honig, 1962, pgs. 224 – 234.

2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Crane.