I stood upon a high place,
And saw, below, many devils
Running, leaping,
and carousing in sin.
One looked up, grinning,
And said, “Comrade! Brother!”

Analysis, meaning and summary of Stephen Crane's poem I stood upon a high place,

11 Comments

  1. rashid ahmed says:

    its easier to be critical than to be correct, every human being is to err , we commit mistakes and are supposed to rectify them. we should not ignore others bearing in mind that they are sinners and we are pure and pious. Allah Almighty does not like those who look down upon others. in this materialistic world we all are alike . Though some of us are sacred people and superior to us on the basis of their good and noble deeds, but they (noble peolpe) should not look down uopn others. ONly the Prophets of Allah almighty are free from sins . They are innocent. They cant commit sins especially those whom the Holy Books had been revealed. Thanks

  2. Mary Murun says:

    The poem shows that when looking down on those we revere as morally inferior, we find it shocking when they, in turn, look right through our self-righteous facade to recognize a kindred spirit.

  3. George says:

    I believe this poem to mean change. The man in the poem was recognized by his friends (the devils). They want the man to come down and “dwell in sin” but that was in the past now he is a better person.

  4. nikkij says:

    Some people think they are better and higher up than others and look down on others and belittle them or are hypocritical because we all are sinners. We are all human.

  5. Timothy says:

    It strikes me as reminding people that we all sin. The devil refers to him as a brother which might imply they are really the same. Also it shows that even when people are at their highest/best, we do the most sinning. Examples would be post-game revelry and atrocities that often happen after military victories.

  6. Tom says:

    This poem has a bit of Yin & Yang. In a sense, everything contains its opposite, and even at the heights of noble human experience we can see, and are never far from, degradation.

  7. Mike says:

    “everyone, including me, is sinful” – stephen crane

  8. john says:

    a lot has a space. also this poem means we are all devils a heart except we are not comletly evil. not completly evil because we are above looking down.

  9. Elizabeth says:

    I think it shows how we can describe so well what we see, and forget that we belong in the picture. Discusted at what is below us, yet forgetting that we arent much higher, and that no one is better. i like this poem alot.

  10. meli says:

    I think that what this poem is trying to say is we don’t need to go so far to see hell. Everyone everywhere is living in sin but we just don’t want to see it.

  11. Chris says:

    This poem shows how man thinks he can sit out of sin and is sinless. But we are not sinless a we think we are as our “brothers” and “comrades” call to us.

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