Analysis of From Top To Bottom
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
O Buddha, had you but foreknown
The vices of your priesthood
It would have made you twist and moan
As any wounded beast would.
You would have damned the entire lot
And turned a Christian, would you not?
There were no Christians, I'll allow,
In your day; that would only
Have brought distinction. Even now
A Christian might feel lonely.
All take the name, but facts are things
As stubborn as the will of kings.
The priests were ignorant and low
When ridiculed by Lucian;
The records, could we read, might show
The same of times Confucian.
And yet the fact I can't disguise
That Deacon Rankin's good and wise.
'Tis true he is not quite a priest,
Nor more than half a preacher;
But he exhorts as loud at least
As any living creature.
And when the plate is passed about
He never takes a penny out.
From Buddha down to Rankin! There,
I never did intend to.
This pen's a buzzard's quill, I swear,
Such subjects to descend to.
When from the humming-bird I've wrung
A plume I'll write of Mike de Young.
Scheme | ABABCC XDADEE FAFAGG HIHIJJ KLKLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 1101111 0101110 11111101 1101011 111100101 01010111 10110101 0111110 11010101 0101110 11011111 11010111 01010001 110110 00111111 0111010 01011101 1101101 11111101 1111010 11011111 1101010 01011101 11010101 11011101 1101011 11010111 1101011 11010111 01111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 973 |
Words | 187 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 155 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 37 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 58 sec read
- 84 Views
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"From Top To Bottom" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1792/from-top-to-bottom>.
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