by Julie Gomez

‘In the Desert’ by Stephen Crane

In the desert

I saw a creature, naked, bestial,

Who, squatting upon the ground,

Held his heart in his hands,

And ate of it.

I said, “Is it good, friend?”

“It is bitter– bitter,” he answered;

“But I like it

Because it is bitter,

And because it is my heart.”

‘In the Desert,’ written by Stephen Crane in 1895, is a comparatively short poem with just two stanzas. However, its message and style are profound. Stephen Crane, though he passed in his late twenties, was influential throughout his work, particularly with his short story titled “The Red Badge of Courage,” also published in 1895.

This story follows a young Union soldier during the Civil War, and while Crane didn’t serve as a soldier himself, he gained much field experience in life by analyzing and experiencing different kinds of people. One of the trips he went on, which was to the Western region of the United States, informed his poem “In the Desert.” Upon his arrival, he was surprised by the reality of the West, that it didn’t consist of an open frontier full of cowboys and booming opportunities for attainment of the “American Dream.” He was presented with overgrazed cattle land and the very real predicament of Americans at the time in clutching poverty. Crane, however, was not entirely disappointed by this. He became fascinated with this human experience which embodied this region of immense struggle. He was captivated by the everyday man. 

The creature which Crane describes in this poem of being “naked [and] bestial” is representative of this poverty he witnessed. The everyday man struggled to earn the income to afford food, let alone clothing and hygiene products. This type of person essentially had nothing, except of course their own soul and body. Crane describes this less than human figure as “[holding] his heart in his hands” because figuratively that is what he saw while he was in the West. And of this heart, Crane describes he “ate of it.” Rather than this allegorical action being considered obscure or strange to Crane, he asks of the figure “‘Is it good, friend?’” The simple and straight forward language implemented is indicative of the poem’s analytical message. Crane is not judgmental towards the action or of the figure committing the action. Instead, he’s inquisitive, seeking answers from a stranger which he views as someone close to him, someone he can learn from. “It is bitter– bitter,” the figure replies. The figure is not ashamed or embarrassed by what he is doing or by someone watching him. He’s reciprocal in the conversation, willing to share his perspective.

This style of openness and reciprocity works well in communicating the predicament of the moment and the environment in which has created it, including the land, the figure itself, and the economic and social conditions which have shaped both. The figure affirms for Crane, “But I like it/Because it is bitter/And because it is my heart.” This statement shows the figure is not necessarily angered by their predicament at all. Though conditions have weathered and reduced it to a “naked [and] bestial” creature, at it’s core it still has what is most important: its own heart. And though the heart may be “bitter” it is still its own and holds great value because that is what is most important above all. Since the poem ends without another word from the speaker Crane, the message is complete. The speaker serves as observer and student in this poem, though it can be presumed that the speaker has far more “material” value like money and overall better economical conditions. The figure, on the other hand, has nothing but its heart, positioning it rightly to teach one of life’s most important lessons: all can be lost or lose value, but the heart remains intact no matter how worn the body and soul.

Works Cited

“Stephen Crane.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/stephen-crane. Accessed 4 May 2024.