Analysis of History
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
What wrecked the Roman power? One says vice,
Another indolence, another dice.
Emascle says polygamy. 'Not so,'
Says Impycu-''twas luxury and show.'
The parson, lifting up a brow of brass,
Swears superstition gave the _coup de grace_,
Great Allison, the statesman-chap affirms
'Twas lack of coins (croaks Medico: ''T was worms')
And John P. Jones the swift suggestion collars,
Averring the no coins were silver dollars.
Thus, through the ages, each presuming quack
Turns the poor corpse upon its rotten back,
Holds a new 'autopsy' and finds that death
Resulted partly from the want of breath,
But chiefly from some visitation sad
That points his argument or serves his fad.
They're all in error-never human mind
The cause of the disaster has divined.
What slew the Roman power? Well, provided
You'll keep the secret, I will tell you. I did.
Scheme | AABBCADDEEFFGGHHIHJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101010111 01010101 11010011 11110001 0101010111 101010111 1100010101 1111110111 01110101010 101101010 1101010101 1011011101 101100111 0101010111 110110101 1111001111 1101010101 011001011 11010101010 11010111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 828 |
Words | 144 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 20 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 656 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 140 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 22, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 100 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"History" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1801/history>.
Discuss this Ambrose Bierce poem analysis 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