I Saw A Man Pursuing The Horizon Poem by Stephen Crane
I Saw A Man Pursuing The Horizon
I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
"It is futile," I said,
"You can never -- "
"You lie," he cried,
And ran on.
More down to earth: the two men can be the capitalist and the social justice warrior....
Great comment Lars. I have loved this poem long and my point of view changes. I am wondering if the watcher, as Lars points out, is communicating to the man that we cannot reach God through our mind (the horizon, always pursuing another thought) but must surrender to the present and observe... Much love in this...
According to American politician Bob Dole (born 1923) , The horizon is out there somewhere, and you just keep chasing it, looking for it, and working for it.
Who is another man to tell another that his dream is unreachable? Step out of the way and pursue a dream of your own.
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4/25/2024 3:56:47 AM # 1.0.0.1119
interestingly enough this poem suggests two things about man(as in 'huMANity') : One: sometimes man chases things, absract or real in a futile atempt to catch them Two: sometimes man percieve other mens line of thought to be futile, that is, imagine the man chasing the horizon to be religious, and the man watching is an atheist. Now, the atheist sees his fellow man in a futile chase and tries to point it out, only to learn he cannot influence the chasing mans belief. The situation can also be reversed, the chasing man is an atheist and the watcher is the religious one, trying to 'save' his fellow man. this poem is beautiful because in a sense, the man who watches does not realize the futility in trying to convince the chaser that his chase is futile. One can almost sense a nihilistic and dadaistic mind behind these words. a sort of 'what good does it do anyway? ' kind of reaction, only said with a smile, smirk or twinkle in the eye.