Stephen Crane "God Lay Dead in Heaven"

Stephen Crane wrote "God Lay Dead in Heaven" in 1895. This poem is part of "The Black Riders and Other Lines" which is a book of poems. This poem only contains one stanza with eighteen lines and it is a free verse. As a narrative poem, this poem describes how Satan will dominate the world when the end of world arrives. Stephen Crane wrote this poem without rhyme or meter because he wants to convey how the world will result in chaos. The theme of the poem is how Satan will over power God and that Satan will dominate when the end of the world comes near.

In this narrative poem, Stephen Crane's organization, tone, and language are used to portray his theme. The enjambment in the poem is used to convey that the end of the world is going to come not as a gradual event, but as one huge connected climax. For example, in the fifth line, "With Blood," is connected to the sixth line, "That feel upon the earth." The speaker's tone is filled with despair because "God lay dead in heaven (1)." The omnipotent God has been defeated by Satan and now darkness has taken over the world. After the grueling war between God and Satan, the result of this war is the angels' "wings drip-dripping with blood" (4) and "Angels sang the hymn of the end" (2) which indicates that Satan and his demons have defeated God and his angels. The "Came monsters" (11) or demons are "livid with desire."(11) The demons "fought" and the result is that they have "wrangled over the world." (13) Satan and his demons has succeeded dominating the world with darkness and evil and therefore the speaker feels hopeless and miserable, which is portrayed in line fifteen, "But of all sadness this was sad." The speaker feels that there is no hope left for the world. The theme can also been seen through his formal language and his use of concrete details of demonic images such as "Then from the far caverns of dead sins came monsters, livid with desire." (9-11)

Stephen Crane uses many stylistic devises