Social Commentaries

IX. Forth went the candid man

by Stephen Crane 1871–1900

From War Is Kind (1899)

Social Commentaries

Forth went the candid man
And spoke freely to the wind--
When he looked about him he was in a far
strange country.

Forth went the candid man
And spoke freely to the stars--
Yellow light tore sight from his eye.

"My good fool," said a learned bystander,
"Your operations are mad."

"You are too candid," cried the candid man.
And when his stick left the head of the
learned bystander
It was two sticks.

MLA

Crane, Stephen. “IX. Forth went the candid man.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/crane/78/.

Chicago

Crane, Stephen. “IX. Forth went the candid man.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/crane/78/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Stephen Crane