The poem I found was:
A man went before a strange God --
The God of many men, sadly wise.
And the deity thundered loudly,
Fat with rage, and puffing.
"Kneel, mortal, and cringe
And grovel and do homage
To My Particularly Sublime Majesty."
The man fled.
Then the man went to another God --
The God of his inner thoughts.
And this one looked at him
With soft eyes
Lit with infinite comprehension,
And said, "My poor child!"
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/stephencrane/11855
I think it's interesting how people, in Stephen Crane's opinion, react to God. In the face of the stereotypical, booming, powerful God, they fear and, instead of worshiping as is demanded of them, run away. What people really want in their God is Someone who would understand them but love them and pity them anyway. I think you could take the phrase "The God of his inner thoughts" in more than one way. The way I took it when I first read through this was as "the God who knows men's inner thoughts," but you could also take it to mean "the God inside oneself." Maybe Crane wrote it that way intentionally.
The first way to take it is that we love a God Who loved us first. This makes sense and is Biblical. It also is comforting to imagine Someone who cherishes us and comforts us even when He knows everything about us--all the bad stuff.
The other way is a little more New-Age-ish, that there's a god/God inside ourselves and to reach enlightenment or the ultimate reality, we must contact Him/Her/It. I wouldn't agree with this interpretation but I can see how Crane might have meant it. After all, we seem to be much more likely to pity ourselves than other people are--at least most of us, I guess.
I hope for the first interpretation, really. To me, it's a little less sad... That there would be Someone out there in the poem Who would love a man. Otherwise it's a man loving himself, like most men do. Hm.
On an unrelated note, from Crane's other poems, I like his style. It reminds me of the Psalms and translations I've read of ancient poetry and song lyrics. It has a lulling rhythm behind it and a lot of repetition of phrases as well as great descriptions.
The first way to take it is that we love a God Who loved us first. This makes sense and is Biblical. It also is comforting to imagine Someone who cherishes us and comforts us even when He knows everything about us--all the bad stuff.
The other way is a little more New-Age-ish, that there's a god/God inside ourselves and to reach enlightenment or the ultimate reality, we must contact Him/Her/It. I wouldn't agree with this interpretation but I can see how Crane might have meant it. After all, we seem to be much more likely to pity ourselves than other people are--at least most of us, I guess.
I hope for the first interpretation, really. To me, it's a little less sad... That there would be Someone out there in the poem Who would love a man. Otherwise it's a man loving himself, like most men do. Hm.
On an unrelated note, from Crane's other poems, I like his style. It reminds me of the Psalms and translations I've read of ancient poetry and song lyrics. It has a lulling rhythm behind it and a lot of repetition of phrases as well as great descriptions.
Good analysis...glad you like his poems...
ReplyDelete