When the prophet, a complacent fat man,

When the prophet, a complacent fat man,
Arrived at the mountain-top,
He cried: “Woe to my knowledge!
I intended to see good white lands
And bad black lands,
But the scene is grey.”

Analysis, meaning and summary of Stephen Crane's poem When the prophet, a complacent fat man,

2 Comments

  1. Peter C. Langella says:

    Religious dogmas, accepted and even exalted by society, represented by the “fat” prophet, face reality, they fail. Good and evil are a mire.

  2. Verna OBrien says:

    As I progress through my life, it is harder and harder to see too much in very stark, black & white terms, on most crucial matters the truth lies in the gray

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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.