A Fool

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



Says Anderson, Theosophist:
'Among the many that exist
In modern halls,
Some lived in ancient Egypt's clime
And in their childhood saw the prime
Of Karnak's walls.'

Ah, Anderson, if that is true
'T is my conviction, sir, that you
Are one of those
That once resided by the Nile,
Peer to the sacred Crocodile,
Heir to his woes.

My judgment is, the holy Cat
Mews through your larynx (and your hat)
These many years.
Through you the godlike Onion brings
Its melancholy sense of things,
And moves to tears.

In you the Bull divine again
Bellows and paws the dusty plain,
To nature true.
I challenge not his ancient hate
But, lowering my knurly pate,
Lock horns with you.

And though Reincarnation prove
A creed too stubborn to remove,
And all your school
Of Theosophs I cannot scare
All the more earnestly I swear
That you're a fool.

You'll say that this is mere abuse
Without, in fraying you, a use.
That's plain to see
With only half an eye. Come, now,
Be fair, be fair,-consider how
It eases _me_!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

56 sec read
56

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCCB DDEFFE AAXGGX XXDAAD HHIJJI KKXLLC
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 966
Words 185
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

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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