Fast rode the knight
With spurs, hot and reeking,
Ever waving an eager sword,
“To save my lady!”
Fast rode the knIght,
And leaped from saddle to war.
Men of steel flickered and gleamed
Like riot of silver lights,
And the gold of the knight’s good banner
Still waved on a castle wall.
. . . . .
A horse,
Blowing, staggering, bloody thing,
Forgotten at foot of castle wall.
A horse
Dead at foot of castle wall.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Stephen Crane's poem Fast rode the knight

16 Comments

  1. Emily says:

    Amaaazing poem! I liked the symbolism how the “hero” blindly chases his goal not thinking about the consequences. The pursuit of one goal may be destroying something else and we seldom see the price being paid.

  2. bobby says:

    I thought it was really great!

  3. Sultan Abihamed says:

    If I climbed to the top of a wall, I would wave to all my friends too. I have a really big wall that separates my castle from the lowly peasant scum that plod my fields. I love Brunei, except for the peasants that throw plod clumps at my castle. So today i will wave again and smile–secretly hoping to throw my clumps at them. Peasants rot!

  4. Andrew Whalen says:

    Steven Cranes iz da b0mb! I like pie. Give me pie. I ride knights fast to get my pie. who ate my pie? I like snow. Do you like snow? My mom ate yellow snow. Go Cranes!

  5. Katie says:

    I am normally not the type to post comments on a page like this, so I’ll be brief. I believe that the idioticy disgorged by the other comments is exactly the kind of ignorance that Stephen Crane highlighted in his most cynical poems.

    These postings are an embarrassment to both Steven Crane and the literary community.

  6. hillary says:

    i really like your poem because i really like horses. But any way great poem.

  7. Brittany says:

    I love this poem! It reflects the passion of Arthurian times, when knights were great men who fought for honor, their people, and their kingdom. When Crane incorporates phrases such as “hot and reeking,” “steel flickered and gleamed,” and “riot of silver lights,” it’s like you can really see the bloody battle going on. Being a romantic, I love the fact that the brave knight is doing battle in order to save the lady he loves. Isn’t it amazing how poems even as short as this, can paint such a vivid picture in the mind’s eye?

  8. Injitsabiakaboo says:

    hi, i live in the Kyrgyz Republic, it is a small country in the middle of nowhere, we are really poor but somehow i have access to a computer. I really like stephen crane, hes cool, we used to hang out all the time. But then he got famous and rich and now hes gay….

  9. Meatwad says:

    Since i’m avoiding death in the Rwanda genocide everyday, this poem gives me great motivation to press on and LIVE! I will continue to read it everyday for the next 52 years where I will then live on the moon. Peace.

  10. Annah says:

    how do you understand this poem, whats it mean why was the horse all bloody and staggering, what did it have a bloody period, was it its time of month??? what happend to the golden frog?? I like pims and pums cuz they smell like pee-pee holes

  11. young writer says:

    i really liked this poem, it was different. i have always been obsesed with stuff like this so it’s cool.

  12. Annah says:

    I especially enjoy this poem, above all others by Stephen Crane. I’m not very skilled in analyzing poems, and expressing in words the way the poem makes me feel, but I felt as if I was forced to put a comment in, because the other three are foolish and wasteful. Anyway, this poem was a well done, and if Stephen Crane was still alive, I’d tell him face to face of what a great job he did describing this poem in words.

  13. jon doe says:

    dis poim iz awesum WHAT OK YEAH

  14. Jim Bob says:

    Thius poim is awesome i luv it

  15. Stephen Crane says:

    i love this peom i like to click on it

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