Many Red Devils... by Stephen Crane

While reading this poem I really enjoyed the imagery. I like to picture things in my head and I could imagine exactly what was going on in the poem. Stephen Crane is fabulous at telling a story through imagery.

 I believe that the poem is about many different things.  I interpret it to be about expressing oneself honestly and truly, and maybe they're devils because they're the things about ourselves we've never had the courage to face or admit to, but to struggle to put that "red muck" into words releases, names, and conquers those facets of our self. What a shame to not enjoy this, to miss out on all it says. One would have to know nothing about honest personal writing. I think the poem has a feeling of relief attached to it. While the speaker finds writing that way strange, he also is happy to put his thoughts on paper, or out into the world. They may not be the best of thoughts, but they are his. 

Perhaps this was a telling of when one is beginning to write on a subject, but the words that flow out are reflective of a state of mind the writer was unaware of and was suprised by the change of attitude as he was writing. The mind can become freed as an idea grows while it is being examined and expressed; an idea can also be crushed during examination and expression. The devils could be an idea he wanted to disagree with at the start.  This happens to me when I am writing a timed essay sometime. I start writing one thing and then another idea pops into my head interrupting what i am already writing.

I really liked this poem and it put a new twist on writing and the red devils involved.