Analysis of A Cheating Preacher
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Munhall, to save my soul you bravely try,
Although, to save my soul, I can't say why.
'Tis naught to you, to me however much
Why, bless it! you might save a million such
Yet lose your own; for still the 'means of grace'
That you employ to turn us from the place
By the arch-enemy of souls frequented
Are those which to ensnare us he invented!
I do not say you utter falsehoods-I
Would scorn to give to ministers the lie:
They cannot fight-their calling has estopped it.
True, I did not persuade them to adopt it.
But, Munhall, when you say the Devil dwells
In all the breasts of all the infidels
Making a lot of individual Hells
In gentlemen instinctively who shrink
From thinking anything that you could think,
You talk as I should if some world I trod
Where lying is acceptable to God.
I don't at all object-forbid it Heaven!
That your discourse you temperately leaven
With airy reference to wicked souls
Cursing impenitent on glowing coals,
Nor quarrel with your fancy, blithe and fine,
Which represents the wickedest as mine.
Each ornament of style my spirit eases:
The subject saddens, but the manner pleases.
But when you 'deal damnation round' 'twere sweet
To think hereafter that you did not cheat.
Deal, and let all accept what you allot 'em.
But, blast you! you are dealing from the bottom!
Scheme | AABBCCDEAAFFGGCHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111101 111111111 111111101 1111110101 1111110111 1101111101 10110011100 11110111010 111111011 1111110001 1101110111 11110111011 111110101 0101110100 1001101001 0100010011 110101111 1111111111 1101010011 11111001110 11101110 1101001101 1011101 1101110101 1010111 11001111010 00110101010 1111010111 1101011111 10110111011 11111101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,278 |
Words | 236 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 31 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,022 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 234 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 89 Views
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"A Cheating Preacher" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1608/a-cheating-preacher>.
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