Themes in the poetry of Stephen Crane.

Stephen Crane discusses three major themes in his poetry. He experimented with various techniques and literary philosophies, including imagism, symbolism, naturalism and realism. The only consistent factor in his own expressed philosophy was a desire to adhere to the truth. His poetry is free verse, and relies heavily on metre and alliteration for its rhythms. The first theme discussed in this thesis is that of man's relationship to society. Crane revolted against the accepted social mores of his generation, and turned to a deterministic theory of the universe to explain the nature of man. He viewed man as basically ignorant, depraved and mistakenly obstinate. Consequently the individual life is portrayed as being futile, and man's existence on earth is unhappy. The ultimate futility in society is war, which Crane viewed as both a natural condition and one which is wholly pointless. The second theme Crane dealt with in his poetry was the relationship between man and his beloved. This, too, was an unhappy experience, but one which contained a degree of solace, if not hope. The love poems express Crane's belief that love is a natural, binding condition, and that only by joining together in deep love can man hope to achieve some comfort in a cold world. The result of this union is never happy, though, for it is always accompanied by a certain degree of pain, chiefly because of the imperfect natures of the lovers. The third group of poems explore the relationship between man and God. Crane rejected the God of his father, and substituted instead a personal, gentle God of his inner thoughts. Additionally, he revolted against the church, viewing it as a fallible body established by man, not by God. These three concepts demonstrate an otherwise unknown side of the poet. He is subjective in the poetry as he never is in his prose. They also have a value all their own; they are hauntingly thought-provoking, and are an important step in the evolution of modern poetry.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

1965

Author dc:creator

• Sanderson, Sandra D., 1942-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Long, E. Hudson (Eugene Hudson), 1908-1990.

• Crane, Stephen, 1871-1900.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/14420

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/14420