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I Saw a Man

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  I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
"It is futile," I said,
"You can never -- "

"You lie," he cried,
And ran on.

Stephen Crane


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  Comments about this poem (I Saw a Man by Stephen Crane )
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  Gorzo Stefania  (7/23/2009 3:26:00 AM)

i agree with stephanie :)
  Stephanie Collins  (7/4/2009 6:18:00 PM)

This is my favourite poem, right here.
  Lars Engstrom  (5/30/2009 8:17:00 PM)

interestingly enough this poem suggests two things about man(as in 'huMANity') :

One: sometimes man chases things, absract or real in a futile atempt to catch them

Two: sometimes man percieve other mens line of thought to be futile, that is, imagine the man chasing the horizon to be religious, and the man watching is an atheist.

Now, the atheist sees his fellow man in a futile chase and tries to point it out, only to learn he cannot influence the chasing mans belief.

The situation can also be reversed, the chasing man is an atheist and the watcher is the religious one, trying to 'save' his fellow man.

this poem is beautiful because in a sense, the man who watches does not realize the futility in trying to convince the chaser that his chase is futile.

One can almost sense a nihilistic and dadaistic mind behind these words. a sort of 'what good does it do anyway? ' kind of reaction, only said with a smile, smirk or twinkle in the eye.
  Niki L  (9/27/2007 9:03:00 PM)

I like this poem because it suggests that men tend to run after things (whether they be goals, people, etc) which they never had a chance in reaching in the first place.

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11/21/2009 8:17:03 AM. #.34# You Are Here: I Saw a Man by Stephen Crane

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