Favourite Poet

I chose Stephen Crane as my favourite poet. He was born on November 1, 1871, and died on June 5, 1900. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 28, as he was plagued by financial difficulties and ill health.

“Crane was a precocious child who taught himself to read before the age of four.” At his age of four, he had no idea that he would one day become a poet and “one of the most innovative writers of his generation” as stated by modern critics.

Stephen Crane hated wars. He had written a war novel, entitled “The Red Badge of Courage” and its content was on the cruelty of war. He also had written a poem entitled, “Fast rode the knight”.

Fast rode the knight
With spurs, hot and reeking,
Ever waving an eager sword,
"To save my lady!"
Fast rode the knight,
And leaped from saddle to war.
Men of steel flickered and gleamed
Like riot of silver lights,
And the gold of the knight's good banner
Still waved on a castle wall.
. . . . .
A horse,
Blowing, staggering, bloody thing,
Forgotten at foot of castle wall.
A horse
Dead at foot of castle wall.

In this poem, Stephen Crane wrote about the reality of war. How the knights get all the glory after a victory, while the horses which they used in the war are abandoned after their use had been terminated. In the modern society, only the generals get the credit for emerging victorious from a war. The soldiers that fought courageously are not remembered by the people. Usually, only the generals get the glory of attaining victory, while the soldiers are forgotten.

Stephen Crane had tried to publish one of his novels when he was 22, entitled “A girl in the Streets”. He had tried and failed to publish it in a magazine known as “The Century Magazine”. Even after he published it in private, using his inherited money, through a small printing shop, the book was not sold and he had to give the books away for free. Even after this failure, Stephen Crane persisted and finally published the war novel, “The Red Badge of Courage”. A characteristic that I like about him is his persistence. Though he suffered two major failures, he persisted through and finally published his first war novel. This characteristic is what a good writer and poet should have; persistence. He could have easily given up writing novels and poems, but he did not.

Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War is Kind
Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind,
Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,
Little souls who thirst for fight,
These men were born to drill and die.
The unexplained glory flies above them.
Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom--
A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbles in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.

Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind!

Black Riders came from the sea
Black riders came from the sea.
There was clang and clang of spear and shield,
And clash and clash of hoof and heel,
Wild shouts and the wave of hair
In the rush upon the wind:
Thus the ride of sin.


References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Crane#Poetry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Badge_of_Courage http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/stephen_crane/poems/13266
http://poetry.about.com/library/weekly/blscranewar.htm
http://www.poemhunter.com/stephen-crane/poems/page-1/

Poem

Fast rode the knight
With spurs, hot and reeking,
Ever waving an eager sword,
"To save my lady!"
Fast rode the knight,
And leaped from saddle to war.
Men of steel flickered and gleamed
Like riot of silver lights,
And the gold of the knight's good banner
Still waved on a castle wall.
. . . . .
A horse,
Blowing, staggering, bloody thing,
Forgotten at foot of castle wall.
A horse
Dead at foot of castle wall.



Hyperbole was used. There was a repetition of ‘Fast rode the knight’. “To save my lady!” was also used. The horse was also described vividly as ‘blowing, staggering, bloody thing’. The author wanted to invoke the image of the speeding knight and also wanted the readers to empathise with the horse. An emphasis of the knight’s desire in wanting to go for battle was also shown.

Personification was used. The sword was described as ‘eager’. Figuratively, the sword has taken on the feeling of a human. The author wanted to turn the object into a human with feelings and actions.

Metaphor was used. ‘Men of steel flickered and gleamed’ was used. Literally, there is no such thing as ‘men of steel’, but figuratively, the author is talking about the knights who are clad in armour. The author is relating two unrelated items with each other.

Simile was used. ‘Like riot of silver lights’ was used. Silver lights do not have any relations with riots, literally. But figuratively, it meant that it was a riot of the knights. The author wanted to compare two unrelated objects with one another.

Symbolism
The horse and the banner are symbols. The banner is the symbol of the knights’ victory. If the banner is broken, then it symbolises that the knights have been defeated. The horse symbolises the fighting power of the knights. The knight, the higher rank, abandoned the horse, which means that the knight abandoned the fighting power.

WHY I LIKE THIS POEM!
I like this poem because it is interesting. It has figurative language in it, which makes it even more interesting as I have loads of fun spotting them and solving them. The poem too, tells us about the relations between the knights and the horses. The knights have the glory of defeating the other soldiers. The horses are different; they are just seen as the transportation for the knights to do battle.

When the knights gain victory, the horses do not have the glory. They are mostly slain on the battlefield, or after the battle, they are just not cared for. This poem has made me realise that humans are rather unfeeling towards animals when there is glory around.