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The University of Virginia Edition of The Works of Stephen Crane

Volume X : Poems and Literary Remains
Crane, Stephen (1871-1900)

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The Black Riders and Other Lines
 1. 
[I. Black riders came from the sea]
 2. 
[II. Three little birds in a row]
 3. 
[III. In the desert]
 4. 
[IV. Yes, I have a thousand tongues]
 5. 
[V. Once there came a man]
 6. 
[VI. God fashioned the ship of the world carefully]
 7. 
[VII. Mystic shadow, bending near me]
 8. 
[VIII. I looked here]
 9. 
[IX. I stood upon a high place]
 10. 
[X. Should the wide world roll away]
 11. 
[XI. In a lonely place]
 12. 
[XII. Well, then, I hate Thee, unrighteous picture]
 13. 
[XIII. If there is a witness to my little life]
 14. 
[XIV. There was crimson clash of war]
 15. 
[XV. “Tell brave deeds of war.”]
 16. 
[XVI. Charity, thou art a lie]
 17. 
[XVII. There were many who went in huddled procession]
 18. 
[XVIII. In Heaven]
 19. 
[XIX. A god in wrath]
 20. 
[XX. A learned man came to me once]
 21. 
[XXI. There was, before me]
 22. 
[XXII. Once I saw mountains angry]
 23. 
[XXIII. Places among the stars]
 24. 
[XXIV. I saw a man pursuing the horizon]
 25. 
[XXV. Behold, the grave of a wicked man]
 26. 
[XXVI. There was set before me a mighty hill]
 27. 
[XXVII. A youth in apparel that glittered]
 28. 
[XXVIII. “Truth,” said a traveller]
 29. 
[XXIX. Behold, from the land of the farther suns]
 30. 
[XXX. Supposing that I should have the courage]
 31. 
[XXXI. Many workmen]
 32. 
[XXXII. Two or three angels]
 33. 
[XXXIII. There was One I met upon the road]
 34. 
[XXXIV. I stood upon a highway]
 35. 
[XXXV. A man saw a ball of gold in the sky]
 36. 
[XXXVI. I met a seer]
 37. 
[XXXVII. On the horizon the peaks assembled]
 38. 
[XXXVIII. The ocean said to me once]
 39. 
[XXXIX. The livid lightnings flashed in the clouds]
 40. 
[XL. And you love me?]
 41. 
[XLI. Love walked alone]
 42. 
[XLII. I walked in a desert]
 43. 
[XLIII. There came whisperings in the winds]
 44. 
[XLIV. I was in the darkness]
 45. 
[XLV. Tradition, thou art for suckling children]
 46. 
[XLVI. Many red devils ran from my heart]
 47. 
[XLVII. “Think as I think,” said a man]
 48. 
[XLVIII. Once there was a man]
 49. 
[XLIX. I stood musing in a black world]
 50. 
[L. You say you are holy]
 51. 
[LI. A man went before a strange god]
 52. 
[LII. Why do you strive for greatness, fool?]
 53. 
[LIII. Blustering god]
 54. 
[LIV. “It was wrong to do this,” said the angel]
 55. 
[LV. A man toiled on a burning road]
 56. 
[LVI. A man feared that he might find an assassin]
 57. 
[LVII. With eye and with gesture]
 58. 
[LVIII. The sage lectured brilliantly]
 59. 
[LIX. Walking in the sky]
 60. 
[LX. Upon the road of my life]
 61. 
[LXI]
 62. 
[LXII. There was a man who lived a life of fire]
 63. 
[LXIII. There was a great cathedral]
 64. 
[LXIV. Friend, your white beard sweeps the ground]
 65. 
[LXV. Once, I knew a fine song]
 66. 
[LXVI. If I should cast off this tattered coat]
 67. 
[LXVII. God lay dead in Heaven]
 68. 
[LXVIII. A spirit sped]
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War is Kind
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Uncollected Poems

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17

[XXVIII. “Truth,” said a traveller]

“Truth,” said a traveller,
“Is a rock, a mighty fortress;
“Often have I been to it,
“Even to its highest tower,
“From whence the world looks black.”
“Truth,” said a traveller,
“Is a breath, a wind,
“A shadow, a phantom;
“Long have I pursued it,
“But never have I touched
“The hem of its garment.”
And I believed the second traveller;
For truth was to me
A breath, a wind,
A shadow, a phantom,
And never had I touched
The hem of its garment.
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