Analysis of Mendax
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
High Lord of Liars, Pickering, to thee
Let meaner mortals bend the subject knee!
Thine is mendacity's imperial crown,
Alike by genius, action and renown.
No man, since words could set a cheek aflame
E'er lied so greatly with so little shame!
O bad old man, must thy remaining years
Be passed in leading idiots by their ears
Thine own (which Justice, if she ruled the roast
Would fasten to the penitential post)
Still wagging sympathetically-hung
the same rocking-bar that bears thy tongue?
Thou dog of darkness, dost thou hope to stay
Time's dread advance till thou hast had thy day?
Dost think the Strangler will release his hold
Because, forsooth, some fibs remain untold?
No, no-beneath thy multiplying load
Of years thou canst not tarry on the road
To dabble in the blood thy leaden feet
Have pressed from bosoms that have ceased to beat
Of reputations margining thy way,
Nor wander from the path new truth to slay.
Tell to thyself whatever lies thou wilt,
Catch as thou canst at pennies got by guilt
Straight down to death this blessed year thou'lt sink,
Thy life washed out as with a wave of ink.
But if this prophecy be not fulfilled,
And thou who killest patience be not killed;
If age assail in vain and vice attack
Only by folly to be beaten back;
Yet Nature can this consolation give:
The rogues who die not are condemned to live!
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFF GGHHIIJJGGKKLLMMNNXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111010011 1101010011 11101001 0111010001 1111110101 10111011101 1111110101 11010100111 1111011101 1101011 110010001 011011111 1111011111 1101111111 1101010111 011110101 110111001 1111110101 1100011101 111111111 101010011 1101011111 11110111 1111110111 111111111 1111110111 1111001101 011110111 1101010101 1011011101 110110101 0111110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,318 |
Words | 242 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 20 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 533 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 120 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 46 Views
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"Mendax" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1835/mendax>.
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