Analysis of Bereavement
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
A Countess (so they tell the tale)
Who dwelt of old in Arno's vale,
Where ladies, even of high degree,
Know more of love than of A.B.C,
Came once with a prodigious bribe
Unto the learned village scribe,
That most discreet and honest man
Who wrote for all the lover clan,
Nor e'er a secret had betrayed
Save when inadequately paid.
'Write me,' she sobbed-'I pray thee do
A book about the Prince di Giu
A book of poetry in praise
Of all his works and all his ways;
The godlike grace of his address,
His more than woman's tenderness,
His courage stern and lack of guile,
The loves that wantoned in his smile.
So great he was, so rich and kind,
I'll not within a fortnight find
His equal as a lover. O,
My God! I shall be drowned in woe!'
'What! Prince di Giu has died!' exclaimed
The honest man for letters famed,
The while he pocketed her gold;
'Of what'?-if I may be so bold.'
Fresh storms of tears the lady shed:
'I stabbed him fifty times,' she said.
Scheme | AAXXBBCCDDXXEEXXFFGGHH IIJJKK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01011101 1111011 110101101 1111111 11100101 1001101 11010101 11110101 110010101 11010001 11111111 01010111 01110001 11110111 011111 11110100 11010111 0111011 11111101 1101011 11010101 11111101 11111101 01011101 01110001 11111111 11110101 11110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 932 |
Words | 192 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 22, 6 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 361 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 91 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 57 sec read
- 108 Views
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"Bereavement" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1727/bereavement>.
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