Analysis of The Division Superintendent
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Baffled he stands upon the track
The automatic switches clack.
Where'er he turns his solemn eyes
The interlocking signals rise.
The trains, before his visage pale,
Glide smoothly by, nor leave the rail.
No splinter-spitted victim he
Hears uttering the note high C.
In sorrow deep he hangs his head,
A-weary-would that he were dead.
Now suddenly his spirits rise
A great thought kindles in his eyes.
Hope, like a headlight's vivid glare,
Splendors the path of his despair.
His genius shines, the clouds roll back
'I'll place obstructions on the track!'
Scheme | AA BB CC DD EE BB FF AA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Couplet |
Metre | 10110101 0010101 10111101 0100101 01011101 11011101 1101101 11000111 01011111 01011101 11001101 0111011 1101101 1011101 11010111 11010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 544 |
Words | 95 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 55 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 12 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 29 sec read
- 41 Views
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"The Division Superintendent" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1920/the-division-superintendent>.
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