A man toiled on a burning road,
Never resting.
Once he saw a fat, stupid ass
Grinning at him from a green place.
The man cried out in rage,
“Ah! Do not deride me, fool!
I know you —
All day stuffing your belly,
Burying your heart
In grass and tender sprouts:
It will not suffice you.”
But the ass only grinned at him from the green place.
A man toiled on a burning road
Analysis, meaning and summary of Stephen Crane's poem A man toiled on a burning road
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A dusty road comes to my mind, with a dusty man in tattered clothes doing some work. He is so hot and thirsty, and dirty from the dry air. His head is dry and he looks up and sees this fat, stupid ass grinning at him from the green place. He must feel what a lazy animal is this ass. Just sitting there. Look at me, he thinks, I work so hard and you are so lazy. Do not be satisfied with your easy life, “it will not suffice you.” Get up and work hard like me, toil on this burning road.