Analysis of In His Hand
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
De Young (in Chicago the story is told)
'Took his life in his hand,' like a warrior bold,
And stood before Buckley-who thought him behind,
For Buckley, the man-eating monster is blind.
'Count fairly the ballots!' so rang the demand
Of the gallant De Young, with his life in his hand.
'Tis done, and the struggle is ended. No more
He havocs the battle-field, gilt with the gore
Of slain reputations. No more he defies
His 'lying opponents' with deadlier lies.
His trumpet is hushed and his belt is unbound
His enemies' characters cumber the ground.
They bloat on the war-plain with ink all asoak,
The fortunate candidates perching to croak.
No more he will charge, with a daring divine,
His foes with corruption, his friends by the line.
The thunders are stilled of the horrid campaign,
De Young is triumphant, and never again
Will he need, with his life in his hand, to roar:
'Count fair or, by G--, I will die on your floor!'
His life has been spared, for his sins to atone,
And the hand that he took it in washed with cologne.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIJDDKK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1100101011 111011101001 01011011101 11001101011 11001011001 101011111011 11001011011 1101011101 1101011101 11001011001 11011011101 11001001001 1110111111 0100100111 11111101001 11101011101 01011101001 11101001001 11111101111 11111111111 11111111101 001111101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,015 |
Words | 192 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 22 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 793 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 187 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 72 Views
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