Analysis of A Bubble

Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)



Mrs. Mehitable Marcia Moore
Was a dame of superior mind,
With a gown which, modestly fitting before,
Was greatly puffed up behind.

The bustle she wore was ingeniously planned
With an inspiration bright:
It magnified seven diameters and
Was remarkably nice and light.

It was made of rubber and edged with lace
And riveted all with brass,
And the whole immense interior space
Inflated with hydrogen gas.

The ladies all said when she hove in view
Like the round and rising moon:
'She's a stuck up thing!' which was partly true,
And men called her the Captive Balloon.

To Manhattan Beach for a bath one day
She went and she said: 'O dear!
If I leave off _this_ what will people say?
I shall look so uncommonly queer!'

So a costume she had accordingly made
To take it all nicely in,
And when she appeared in that suit arrayed,
She was greeted with many a grin.

Proudly and happily looking around,
She waded out into the wet,
But the water was very, very profound,
And her feet and her forehead met!

As her bubble drifted away from the shore,
On the glassy billows borne,
All cried: 'Why, where is Mehitable Moore?
I saw her go in, I'll be sworn!'

Then the bulb it swelled as the sun grew hot,
Till it burst with a sullen roar,
And the sea like oil closed over the spot
Farewell, O Mehitable Moore!


Scheme ABCB XDXD EFEF GHGH IJIJ KLKL MNMN COAO PCPA
Poetic Form Quatrain  (89%)
Metre 101101 101101001 10111001001 1101101 01011101001 110101 1101010 10100101 1111100111 0100111 0010101001 01011001 0101111101 1010101 1011111101 011001001 1010110111 1101111 1111111101 11111001 10011101001 1111100 0110101101 111011001 1001001001 11010101 10101101001 00100101 10101001101 1010101 1111111 11010111 1011110111 11110101 0011111001 1111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,265
Words 244
Sentences 15
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 112
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 10, 2023

1:12 min read
91

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. more…

All Ambrose Bierce poems | Ambrose Bierce Books

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