A Military Incident

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



Dawn heralded the coming sun
Fort Douglas was computing
The minutes-and the sunrise gun
Was manned for his saluting.

The gunner at that firearm stood,
The which he slowly loaded,
When, bang!-I know not how it could,
But sure the charge exploded!

Yes, to that veteran's surprise
The gun went off sublimely,
And both his busy arms likewise
Went off with it, untimely.

Then said that gunner to his mate
(He was from Ballyshannon):
'Bedad, the sun's a minute late,
Accardin' to this cannon!'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

26 sec read
108

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GAGA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 480
Words 88
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

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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