One Judge

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



Wallace, created on a noble plan
To show us that a Judge can be a Man;
Through moral mire exhaling mortal stench
God-guided sweet and foot-clean to the Bench;
In salutation here and sign I lift
A hand as free as yours from lawless thrift,
A heart-ah, would I truly could proclaim
My bosom lighted with so pure a flame!
Alas, not love of justice moves my pen
To praise, or to condemn, my fellow men.
Good will and ill its busy point incite:
I do but gratify them when I write.
In palliation, though, I'd humbly state,
I love the righteous and the wicked hate.
So, sir, although we differ we agree,
Our work alike from persecution free,
And Heaven, approving you, consents to me.
Take, therefore, from this not all useless hand
The crown of honor-not in all the land
One honest man dissenting from the choice,
Nor in approval one Fred. Crocker's voice!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
59

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHHIIJJ
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 838
Words 158
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 21

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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