Analysis of The Piute
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Unbeautiful is the Piute!
Howe'er bedecked with bravery,
His person is unsavory
Of soap he's destitute.
He multiplies upon the earth
In spite of all admonishing;
All censure his astonishing
And versatile unworth.
Upon the Reservation wide
We give for his inhabiting
He goes a-jackass rabbiting
To furnish his inside.
The hopper singing in the grass
He seizes with avidity:
He loves its tart acidity,
And gobbles all that pass.
He penetrates the spider's veil,
Industriously pillages
The toads' defenseless villages,
And shadows home the snail.
He lightly runs to earth the quaint
Red worm and, deftly troweling,
He makes it with his boweling
Familiarly acquaint.
He tracks the pine-nut to its lair,
Surrounds it with celerity,
Regards it with asperity
Smiles, and it isn't there!
I wish he'd open up a grin
Of adequate vivacity
And carrying capacity
To take his Agent in.
Scheme | ABBA CDDC ADDA EAAE FXXF ADDA GAAG HAAH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (88%) |
Metre | 1101 10011100 11010100 11110 1100101 01110100 11010100 01001 0100101 11110100 11011 110101 01010001 11011 11110100 010111 110011 1100 01010100 01101 11011101 110101 111111 101 11011111 01110100 01110100 101101 11110101 11001 01000100 111100 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 848 |
Words | 146 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 88 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 18 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 129 Views
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