A Coward

Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)



By hardihood to rise and fear to strike,
And fitly to rebuke his sins decrees,
That, hide from others with what care he please,
Night sha'n't be black enough nor earth so wide
That from himself himself can ever hide!
Hard fate indeed to feel at every breath
His burden of identity till death!
No moment's respite from the immortal load,
To think himself a serpent or a toad,
Or dream, with a divine, ecstatic glow,
He's long been dead and canonized a crow!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

27 sec read
444

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBCCDDEEFF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 454
Words 86
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 11

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. more…

All Ambrose Bierce poems | Ambrose Bierce Books

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    "A Coward" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/1611/a-coward>.

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    What is the term for the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.
    A A turn
    B Line break
    C Enjambment
    D Dithyramb