Supposing that I should have the courage

Stephen CraneContemplative

Supposing that I should have the courage To let a red sword of virtue Plunge into my heart, Letting to the weeds of the ground My sinful blood, What can you offer me? A gardened castle? A flowery kingdom?

What? A hope? Then hence with your red sword of virtue.

Stephen Crane

Mood:: Contemplative
Topics:: virtue, hope, heart, sin, sacrifice

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Summary

Someone is imagining a drastic moral gesture: letting a red sword of virtue stab him, spilling his sinful blood into the weeds. It’s a striking, almost theatrical image of purification. But he doesn’t go through with it in some pious haze.

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