Analysis of The Van Nessiad
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
From end to end, thine avenue, Van Ness,
Rang with the cries of battle and distress!
Brave lungs were thundering with dreadful sound
And perspiration smoked along the ground!
Sing, heavenly muse, to ears of mortal clay,
The meaning, cause and finish of the fray.
Great Porter Ashe (invoking first the gods,
Who signed their favor with assenting nods
That snapped off half their heads-their necks grown dry
Since last the nectar cup went circling by)
Resolved to build a stable on his lot,
His neighbors fiercely swearing he should not.
Said he: 'I build that stable!' 'No, you don't,'
Said they. 'I can!' 'You can't!' 'I will!' 'You won't!'
'By heaven!' he swore; 'not only will I build,
But purchase donkeys till the place is filled!'
'Needless expense,' they sneered in tones of ice
'The owner's self, if lodged there, would suffice.'
For three long months the awful war they waged:
With women, women, men with men engaged,
While roaring babes and shrilling poodles raged!
Jove, from Olympus, where he still maintains
His ancient session (with rheumatic pains
Touched by his long exposure) marked the strife,
Interminable but by loss of life;
For malediction soon exhausts the breath
If not, old age itself is certain death.
Lo! he holds high in heaven the fatal beam;
A golden pan depends from each, extreme;
This feels of Porter's fate the downward stress,
That bears the destiny of all Van Ness.
Alas! the rusted scales, their life all gone,
Deliver judgment neither pro nor con:
The dooms hang level and the war goes on.
With a divine, contemptuous disesteem
Jove dropped the pans and kicked, himself, the beam:
Then, to decide the strife, with ready wit,
The nickel that he did not care for it
Twirled absently, remarking: 'See it spin:
Head, Porter loses; tail, the others win.'
The conscious nickel, charged with doom, spun round,
Portentously and made a ringing sound,
Then, staggering beneath its load of fate,
Sank rattling, died at last and lay in state.
Jove scanned the disk and then, as is his wont,
Raised his considering orbs, exclaiming: 'Front!'
With leisurely alacrity approached
The herald god, to whom his mind he broached:
'In San Francisco two belligerent Powers,
Such as contended round great Ilion's towers,
Fight for a stable, though in either class
There's not a horse, and but a single ass.
Achilles Ashe, with formidable jaw
Assails a Trojan band with fierce hee-haw,
Firing the night with brilliant curses. They
With dark vituperation gloom the day.
Fate, against which nor gods nor men compete,
Decrees their victory and his defeat.
With haste, good Mercury, betake thee hence
And salivate him till he has no sense!'
Sheer downward shot the messenger afar,
Trailing a splendor like a falling star!
With dimming lustre through the air he burned,
Vanished, nor till another sun returned.
The sovereign of the gods superior smiled,
Beaming benignant, fatherly and mild:
'Is Destiny's decree performed, my lad?
And has he now no sense?' 'Ah, sire, he never had.'
Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFFGGHHIIJJJ KKLLMMNNAAXOONNPPQQBBRR GXSSTTUUVVCCWWXX YYZZ1 1 2 2 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111011 1101110001 1101001101 001010101 11001111101 0101010101 1101010101 11110111 1111111111 11010111001 0111010111 1101010111 1111110111 1111111111 11011110111 1101010111 1001110111 0101111101 1111010111 1101011101 110101101 1101011101 1101010101 1111010101 0100011111 1110101 1111011101 11110100101 0101011101 1111010101 1101001111 0101011111 0101010111 0111000111 100101001 1101010101 111011101 0101111111 11010111 1101010101 0101011111 1010101 1100011111 1101110101 1101011111 11010010101 1100010001 0101111111 010101010010 1101011110 1101010101 1101010101 0101110001 0101011111 1001110101 111101 1011111101 0111000101 1111000111 010111111 1101010001 1001010101 1101010111 1011010101 01010101001 10110001 11010111 0111111101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,932 |
Words | 522 |
Sentences | 33 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 15, 23, 16, 8 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 467 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 101 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:34 min read
- 120 Views
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"The Van Nessiad" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1984/the-van-nessiad>.
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