Analysis of To A Dejected Poet

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



Thy gift, if that it be of God,
Thou hast no warrant to appraise,
Nor say: 'Here part, O Muse, our ways,
The road too stony to be trod.'

Not thine to call the labor hard
And the reward inadequate.
Who haggles o'er his hire with Fate
Is better bargainer than bard.

What! count the effort labor lost
When thy good angel holds the reed?
It were a sorry thing indeed
To stay him till thy palm be crossed.

'The laborer is worthy'-nay,
The sacred ministry of song
Is rapture!-'t were a grievous wrong
To fix a wages-rate for play.


Scheme ABBA CXXC DEED FGGF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 11111111 11110101 111111101 01110111 11110101 00010100 111011011 11010011 11010101 11110101 10010101 11111111 0100111 01010011 110100101 11010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 517
Words 104
Sentences 9
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 100
Words per stanza (avg) 25
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
125

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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