Analysis of An Apologue

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



A traveler observed one day
A loaded fruit-tree by the way.
And reining in his horse exclaimed:
'The man is greatly to be blamed
Who, careless of good morals, leaves
Temptation in the way of thieves.
Now lest some villain pass this way
And by this fruit be led astray
To bag it, I will kindly pack
It snugly in my saddle-sack.'
He did so; then that Salt o' the Earth
Rode on, rejoicing in his worth.


Scheme AABBCCAADDEE
Poetic Form
Metre 01000111 01011101 01001101 01110111 11011101 01000111 11110111 01111101 11111101 11001101 111111101 11010011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 396
Words 80
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 308
Words per stanza (avg) 77
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

23 sec read
389

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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