Absurdity In Stephen Crane's Poetry

Stephen Crane is a man of unusual genius who is now recognized as a writer of the first rank and a forerunner of literary modernism. But for a long time, critical attention has focused mainly on his fiction while the value of his poetry has not been fully recognized. The themes of his poetry have not been sufficiently studied. Thus, my thesis is intended to discuss the theme of absurdity in Crane's poetry by employing Albert Camus's philosophy of the absurd.Crane shares with Camus the same anxiety and concern for man's existence in the modern world. In his eyes, man lives in a faithless and meaningless modern world and man suffers spiritual sterility and uncertainties. The loss of a spiritual home and the meaninglessness of life bring about man's feeling of the absurd. Crane, in many of his poems, describes man's various absurd relationships with God, the universe and society. As to how to live in such a world, Crane believes that man should fight against his fate. He expresses his ideas through the image of the absurd hero, who, in his poetry, is represented by the heart-eater, the man in pursue of the horizon and the man in an attempt to communicate with nature. In his poetry, Crane also suggests man's proper stance in an absurd world, that is, to resort to his inner soul rather than to turn to religious consolation.In fact, Crane's poetry, which is largely a presentation of the absurdity of man's existence in the modern world, anticipates one of the main trends in modern American literature. Before absurdity becomes one of the most important themes of twentieth century American literature, Crane has expressed in his verse his own concept of the absurd. Therefore, his contribution to the development of modern American literature cannot be overlooked.