Original poem reprinted online here: "A Man Said to the Universe" by Stephen Crane Originally read: April 30, 2013 More information about the Poet: Stephen Crane A very short proverb, no so much a poem though. I can see this quoted at the beginning of a paper or something and be a single line and still have the same impact. In any case though, the line breaks create a separation of what's said and response. The statement that man says is stated alone for importance, "Sir, I exist!" Construction wise, the politeness of sir combined with the exclamation mark brings a forced importance. The line break for the universe's response, "The fact has not created in me / A sense of obligation." brings multiple meanings. The line break versus the single line shows a certain level of depth where the line "The fact has not created in me" can be taken as a stand alone line as more of a call out out to personification and the construction of a con...
Formerly the RetailMFA, This is the Poetry Blog of Darrell Dela Cruz