Analysis of Elixer Vitæ
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Of life's elixir I had writ, when sleep
(Pray Heaven it spared him who the writing read!)
Settled upon my senses with so deep
A stupefaction that men thought me dead.
The centuries stole by with noiseless tread,
Like spectres in the twilight of my dream;
I saw mankind in dim procession sweep
Through life, oblivion at each extreme.
Meanwhile my beard, like Barbarossa's growing,
Loaded my lap and o'er my knees was flowing.
The generations came with dance and song,
And each observed me curiously there.
Some asked: 'Who was he?' Others in the throng
Replied: 'A wicked monk who slept at prayer.'
Some said I was a saint, and some a bear-
These all were women. So the young and gay,
Visibly wrinkling as they fared along,
Doddered at last on failing limbs away;
Though some, their footing in my beard entangled,
Fell into its abysses and were strangled.
At last a generation came that walked
More slowly forward to the common tomb,
Then altogether stopped. The women talked
Excitedly; the men, with eyes agloom
Looked darkly on them with a look of doom;
And one cried out: 'We are immortal now-
How need we these?' And a dread figure stalked,
Silent, with gleaming axe and shrouded brow,
And all men cried: 'Decapitate the women,
Or soon there'll be no room to stand or swim in!'
So (in my dream) each lovely head was chopped
From its fair shoulders, and but men alone
Were left in all the world. Birth being stopped,
Enough of room remained in every zone,
And Peace ascended Woman's vacant throne.
Thus, life's elixir being found (the quacks
Their bread-and-butter in it gladly sopped)
'Twas made worth having by the headsman's axe.
Seeing which, I gave myself a hearty shaking,
And crumbled all to powder in the waking.
Scheme | ABABBCACDD EFEFFGEGHH IJICJKIKXX LMLMMNBNDD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101011111 11011110101 1001110111 0111111 010011111 11001111 1111010101 1101001101 1111110 101101011110 001011101 0101110001 1111110001 0101011111 1111010101 1101010101 10010011101 111110101 11110011010 101110010 110010111 1101010101 101010101 010001111 1101110111 0111110101 1111001101 1011010101 0111010010 111011111110 1011110111 1111001101 0101011101 01110101001 0101010101 1101010101 1101001101 111101011 10111101010 01011100010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,691 |
Words | 311 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 337 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 76 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 117 Views
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