Analysis of Another Way

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



I lay in silence, dead. A woman came
And laid a rose upon my breast, and said,
'May God be merciful.' She spoke my name,
And added, 'It is strange to think him dead.

'He loved me well enough, but 't was his way
To speak it lightly.' Then, beneath her breath:
'Besides' -I knew what further she would say,
But then a footfall broke my dream of death.

To-day the words are mine. I lay the rose
Upon her breast, and speak her name, and deem
It strange indeed that she is dead. God knows
I had more pleasure in the other dream.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Quatrain 
Metre 1101010101 0101011101 1111001111 0101111111 11110111111 1111010101 0111110111 110111111 1101111101 0101010101 1101111111 1111000101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 520
Words 108
Sentences 9
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 130
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
140

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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