Stephen Crane's Poetry

Stephen Crane was raised by a Methodist preacher.  He was raised with the idea that man was important in the universe, we all have free will, and God is good.  Like many children, he grew up to attack these ideas.  He had originally planned on going into the military, but ended up going to college instead.  He became a free lance journalist, and began publishing poems in 1895.  Crane was known for his use of irony and his christian symbolist.  Crane wrote many novels as well as poems and is known for his novel, "The Open Boat."

We were asked to read several poems written by Stephen Crane.  Many of his poems are full of irony.  It seems like he has a bitter view of the world.  His poems give me a sense of sadness, and give the feeling that man means nothing.  He addresses the deep conflict man has with himself and God.  Often times people write about what they know, so I am assuming that Crane struggled with religion for most of his life.  I have had several friends who are the child of a preacher, and often times they struggle the most with their own faith.  They never had the chance to decide for themselves what is true and what is not true, and rebel against religion as they grow older.  Crane does not title any of his poems.  I can relate to him for not titling any of his poems, because when you write with so much feeling in your heart you just can not chose a title.  I write poetry weekly and have never titled any of them.  My favorite poem I read was "In the Desert."  It told of a man eating his own heart.  The man asked him if it was good, and he replies yes.  He said it was bitter but he liked it because it was his own heart.  We all have feelings of bitterness, but it is our feelings.  It is our heart.  Everyone has their own feelings, and reasons behind why we feel that way.  We have our own way of thinking and would not want it to be any other way.  I also enjoyed "Do Not Weep, Maiden for War is Kind."  I love to be sarcastic and the irony of this made me smile.

I enjoyed Crane's poetry and found it easy to understand.  I loved how he used irony to get his point across in much of his work.