The sage lectured brilliantly.
Before him, two images:
"Now this one is a devil,
And this one is me."
He turned away.
Then a cunning pupil
Changed the positions.
Turned the sage again:
"Now this one is a devil,
And this one is me."
The pupils sat, all grinning,
And rejoiced in the game.
But the sage was a sage.
More verses by Stephen Crane
- In A Lonely Place
- Why Do You Strive For Greatness, Fool?
- There Was, Before Me,
- There Was A Man With Tongue Of Wood
- There Were Many Who Went In Huddled Procession