To A Summer Poet

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



Yes, the Summer girl is flirting on the beach,
With a him.
And the damboy is a-climbing for the peach,
On the limb;
Yes, the bullfrog is a-croaking
And the dudelet is a-smoking
Cigarettes;
And the hackman is a-hacking
And the showman is a-cracking
Up his pets;
Yes, the Jersey 'skeeter flits along the shore
And the snapdog-we have heard it o'er and o'er;
Yes, my poet,
Well we know it-
Know the spooners how they spoon
In the bright
Dollar light
Of the country tavern moon;
Yes, the caterpillars fall
From the trees (we know it all),
And with beetles all the shelves
Are alive.

Please unbuttonhole us-O,
Have the grace to let us go,
For we know
How you Summer poets thrive,
By the recapitulation
And insistent iteration
Of the wondrous doings incident to Life Among
Ourselves!
So, I pray you stop the fervor and the fuss.
For you, poor human linnet,
There's a half a living in it,
But there's not a copper cent in it for us!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 14, 2023

53 sec read
47

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCCDCCDXXXEFGGFHHIJ KKKJFFXILEEL
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 900
Words 173
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 22, 12

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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    "To A Summer Poet" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/2001/to-a-summer-poet>.

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    Which of these famous poems is written in villanelle form?
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    B The Owl And The Pussycat
    C Funeral Blues
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