The Woman And The Devil

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



When Man and Woman had been made,
All but the disposition,
The Devil to the workshop strayed,
And somehow gained admission.

The Master rested from his work,
For this was on a Sunday,
The man was snoring like a Turk,
Content to wait till Monday.

'Too bad!' the Woman cried; 'Oh, why,
Does slumber not benumb me?
A disposition! Oh, I die
To know if 'twill become me!'

The Adversary said: 'No doubt
'Twill be extremely fine, ma'am,
Though sure 'tis long to be without
I beg to lend you mine, ma'am.'

The Devil's disposition when
She'd got, of course she wore it,
For she'd no disposition then,
Nor now has, to restore it.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
133

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CXCD EDED FGFG HIHI
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 607
Words 119
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

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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