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.

by Julie Gomez

Give all to love;
Obey thy heart;
Friends, kindred, days,
Estate, good-fame,
Plans, credit and the Muse,–
Nothing refuse.

‘T is a brave master; 
Let it have scope:
Follow it utterly,
Hope beyond hope:
High and more high
It dives into noon,
With wing unspent,
Untold intent:
But it is a god,
Knows its own path
And the outlets of the sky.

It was never for the mean;
It requireth courage stout.
Souls above doubt,
Valor unbending,
It will reward,–
They shall return
More than they were,
And ever ascending.

Leave all for love;
Yet, hear me, yet,
One word more thy heart behoved,
One pulse more of firm endeavor,–
Keep thee to-day,
To-morrow, forever,
Free as an Arab
Of thy beloved.

Cling with life to the maid;
But when the surprise,
First vague shadow of surmise
Flits across her bosom young,
Of a joy apart from thee,
Free be she, fancy-free;
Nor thou detain her vesture’s hem,
Nor the palest rose she flung
From her summer diadem.

Though thou loved her as thyself,
As a self of purer clay,
Though her parting dims the day,
Stealing grace from all alive;
Heartily know,
When half-gods go,
The gods arrive.

My interpretation:

‘Give All to Love,’ written by Ralph Waldo Emerson and published in 1847, speaks to me in many ways and embodies many thematic and stylistic elements throughout the poem that make me love this poem. If I were to have read this poem just five years ago, I would’ve had completely different feelings and thoughts regarding this poem. Then, I was naive in the ways of romantic relationships and would’ve wholeheartedly disagreed with the last stanza. I would’ve thought, how can I just sit back while the person I love chooses to walk away? How can I let them go? The notion would’ve terrified me, to accept that I could give all my time, affection, and energy to someone with the possibility of them choosing to walk away. But now, after being married for four years, I completely agree with the last stanza. Love is not insecure, or controlling, but rather to love is a freeing experience and will always come with some sort of pain. This last stanza speaks a truth for me; love will leave, but new love will come along.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, c. 1875

The poem as a whole gives me a visceral reaction. Lines like “obey thy heart,” “follow it utterly,” “souls above doubt,” “leave all for love,” and “cling with life to the maid” speak to the intensity that can come with being in love. Younger me would’ve agreed with these lines and in fact, I took action in the past that followed such notions. However, with more life experience in love I would have to disagree with some of these. In my opinion, love in romantic relationships should not always be followed with a blind eye. Love for oneself should come first and choosing the right person to love is essential for one’s self-respect and independence in other areas of life. However, I can agree that to “obey thy heart” and “follow it utterly,” while these can lead to pain, can also offer wisdom and knowledge that would not be acquired otherwise. 

As far as thematic and stylistic elements are concerned, I particularly enjoy how Emerson compares lovers to “half-gods” and “gods.” Because in a way, lovers are just that. Romantic relationships have such profound effects on all aspects of our lives. We make career, financial, social, and educational choices concerning them. They shape who we are. And I appreciate how Emerson referred to lovers who choose to leave as “half-gods” because with their leaving (or vice versa), comes pain and life lessons. They serve a purpose in our lives, but are not the ones we are meant to spend ours with. The real “gods,” the lovers that show us the true meaning of love, offer us patience, understanding, support, and love unwaveringly. They are not meant to come into our lives to leave us. They’re meant to stay. Additionally, “love” as a human experience in the many forms it can inhabit, is itself a “godly” experience.

Arabic Romatic Tradition: ‘Jameel and Bothaina’ initially met at a farm and quarreled because of a camel, but this animosity ended with the highest degree of love. Jameel asked for Bothaina’s hand in marriage, but her father refused. She later married another man and Jameel fled to Yemen. They never ended up together, but their love story is immortalized in Jameel’s poetry.

Lastly, I’d like to bring attention to line thirty-three in stanza 4. It really stood out to me because Emerson chose to compare love as being “Free as an Arab.” I found this reference slightly jarring, but after some digging on Emerson’s techniques I can understand why he made this choice. Emerson studied at Harvard College in Boston, Massachusetts, during which he was not exposed to literary and religious traditions of Asia or the Middle East. He became fascinated with what was exotic and foreign in his field during his time. Operating from a Euro-American worldview, he sometimes made stereotypical and misconceived references in his work. Albeit, this was not intentional per se. I perceive the reference in this stanza was meant to convey that one should give love liberally yet remain autonomous in love, which addresses my concerns above. He asserts that love should be given our utmost effort, but also that we should not lose our individual identities in love. There will come a day in each of our lives where we lose someone we love, but by staying true to ourselves, we will be left more whole than if we didn’t and more prepared for love to re-enter our lives in a truer form because assuredly, it will.