To-Day
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
I saw a man who knelt in prayer,
And heard him say:
'I'll lay my inmost spirit bare
To-day.
'Lord, for to-morrow and its need
I do not pray;
Let me upon my neighbor feed
To-day.
'Let me my duty duly shirk
And run away
From any form or phase of work
To-day.
'From Thy commands exempted still
Let me obey
The promptings of my private will
To-day.
'Let me no word profane, no lie
Unthinking say
If anyone is standing by
To-day.
'My secret sins and vices grave
Let none betray;
The scoffer's jeers I do not crave
To-day.
'And if to-day my fortune all
Should ebb away,
Help me on other men's to fall
To-day.
'So, for to-morrow and its mite
I do not pray;
Just give me everything in sight
To-day.'
I cried: 'Amen!' He rose and ran
Like oil away.
I said: 'I've seen an honest man
To-day.'
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 129 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | abaB cBcB dbdB ebeB fbfB gbgB hbhB iBiB jbjB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 754 |
Words | 157 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"To-Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/2021/to-day>.
Discuss the poem To-Day with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In