Analysis of A Controversialist

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



I've sometimes wished that Ingersoll were wise
To hold his tongue, nor rail against the skies;
For when he's made a point some pious dunce
Like Bartlett of the _Bulletin_ 'replies.'

I brandish no iconoclastic fist,
Nor enter the debate an atheist;
But when they say there is a God I ask
Why Bartlett, then, is suffered to exist.

Even infidels that logic might resent,
Saying: 'There's no place for his punishment
That's worse than earth.' But humbly I submit
That he would make a hell wherever sent.


Scheme AAAA BXXB CXXC
Poetic Form Quatrain  (33%)
Metre 1011110001 1111110101 1111011101 11010101 110100101 1100011100 1111110111 1101110101 10100110101 1011111100 1111110101 1111010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 496
Words 92
Sentences 5
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 131
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

28 sec read
52

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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