Analysis of The Free Trader's Lament
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Oft from a trading-boat I purchased spice
And shells and corals, brought for my inspection
From the fair tropics-paid a Christian price
And was content in my fool's paradise,
Where never had been heard the word 'Protection.'
'T was my sole island; there I dwelt alone
No customs-house, collector nor collection,
But a man came, who, in a pious tone
Condoled with me that I had never known
The manifest advantage of Protection.
So, when the trading-boat arrived one day,
He threw a stink-pot into its mid-section.
The traders paddled for their lives away,
Nor came again into that haunted bay,
The blessed home thereafter of Protection.
Then down he sat, that philanthropic man,
And spat upon some mud of his selection,
And worked it, with his knuckles in a pan,
To shapes of shells and coral things, and span
A thread of song in glory of Protection.
He baked them in the sun. His air devout
Enchanted me. I made a genuflexion:
'God help you, gentle sir,' I said. 'No doubt,'
He answered gravely, 'I'll get on without
Assistance now that we have got Protection.'
Thenceforth I bought his wares-at what a price
For shells and corals of such imperfection!
'Ah, now,' said he, 'your lot is truly nice.'
But still in all that isle there was no spice
To season to my taste that dish, Protection.
Scheme | ABAAB CBCCB DBDDB EBEEB FBFFB ABAAB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101011101 01010111010 1011010101 011001110 11011101010 11111011101 11010101010 1011100101 111111101 0100101010 1101010111 11011011110 0101011101 1101011101 0110101010 111110101 01011111010 0111110001 1111010101 01110101010 1110011101 01011101 1111011111 1101011101 01011111010 111111101 1101011010 1111111101 1101111111 11011111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,268 |
Words | 236 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 167 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:09 min read
- 104 Views
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"The Free Trader's Lament" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1927/the-free-trader%27s-lament>.
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