Analysis of A Coward
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
By hardihood to rise and fear to strike,
And fitly to rebuke his sins decrees,
That, hide from others with what care he please,
Night sha'n't be black enough nor earth so wide
That from himself himself can ever hide!
Hard fate indeed to feel at every breath
His burden of identity till death!
No moment's respite from the immortal load,
To think himself a serpent or a toad,
Or dream, with a divine, ecstatic glow,
He's long been dead and canonized a crow!
Scheme | ABBCCDDEEFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110111 011011101 1111011111 111111011111 1101011101 11011111001 1101010011 11010100101 1101010101 1110010101 111101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 454 |
Words | 86 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 11 |
Lines Amount | 11 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 357 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 84 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 27 sec read
- 444 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Coward" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1611/a-coward>.
Discuss this Ambrose Bierce poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In