Stephen Crane

The Sage Lectured Brilliantly

The Sage Lectured Brilliantly - meaning Summary

Playful Lesson on Identity

A teacher points to two images, naming one "devil" and the other himself. A clever pupil swaps the pictures, then the sage repeats the same labels while the class laughs at the trick. The poem presents a brief episode about authority, perception, and the gap between appearance and meaning. It hints that wisdom can persist unchanged despite playful subversion and that labels may be arbitrary or performative.

Read Complete Analyses

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.

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