Many workmen
Built a huge ball of masonry
Upon a mountain-top.
Then they went to the valley below,
And turned to behold their work.
“It is grand,” they said;
They loved the thing.
Of a sudden, it moved:
It came upon them swiftly;
It crushed them all to blood.
But some had opportunity to squeal.
Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Stephen Crane better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.
I feel the message is that in civilisation, those who work are not necessarily those who benefit.
i really like this poem so im doing this poem for onew of my personal responses to something that i have to do for school in english class i had to pick 5 poems and this is one of the poems that i have picked.
the concept of this story is that people should not gawk over their achievements and they should move on and do more after achieving great things. “Never be content with what you have. always drive for more”
I can only assume he was angry when he wrote this