"Fast Rode the Knight" by Stephen Crane - Language

It’s amazing what Crane does in such a short poem. He imbues the knights with qualities like courage and justice. He gives justification for their acts and then tears it all down. Crane’s message is clear, war is never justified.

The knights ride with “spurs, hot and reeking” and waving “eager” swords. Their off to “save my lady.” What greater reason could there be. Knights in shining armor off to some distance land to save a damsel in distress. Immediately, without further description, Crane uses our own background knowledge of knights and castles to further his own vivid descriptions. The knight’s banner is golden, like his task at hand, and he is a man of steel, unflinching in war.

Yet, despite the glory and power these knights ride out to war with, in the end, the horse is “Blowing, staggering, bloody.” It had been forgotten in the chaos and misery of war, left to die at the foot of a castle wall. The fact Crane chose a horse makes the poem more touching had it been the knight. A horse is under control of his knight and goes off to war without a say of its own and it pays the price.