Analysis of Lusus Politicus
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Come in, old gentleman. How do you do?
Delighted, I'm sure, that you've called.
I'm a sociable sort of a chap and you
Are a pleasant-appearing person, too,
With a head agreeably bald.
That's right-sit down in the scuttle of coal
And put up your feet in a chair.
It is better to have them there:
And I've always said that a hat of lead,
Such as I see you wear,
Was a better hat than a hat of glass.
And your boots of brass
Are a natural kind of boots, I swear.
'May you blow your nose on a paper of pins?'
Why, certainly, man, why not?
I rather expected you'd do it before,
When I saw you poking it in at the door.
It's dev'lish hot
The weather, I mean. 'You are twins'?
Why, that was evident at the start,
From the way that you paint your head
In stripes of purple and red,
With dots of yellow.
That proves you a fellow
With a love of legitimate art.
'You've bitten a snake and are feeling bad'?
That's very sad,
But Longfellow's words I beg to recall:
Your lot is the common lot of all.
'Horses are trees and the moon is a sneeze'?
That, I fancy, is just as you please.
Some think that way and others hold
The opposite view;
I never quite knew,
For the matter o' that,
When everything's been said
May I offer this mat
If you _will_ stand on your head?
I suppose I look to be upside down
From your present point of view.
It's a giddy old world, from king to clown,
And a topsy-turvy, too.
But, worthy and now uninverted old man,
_You're_ built, at least, on a normal plan
If ever a truth I spoke.
Smoke?
Your air and conversation
Are a liberal education,
And your clothes, including the metal hat
And the brazen boots-what's that?
'You never could stomach a Democrat
Since General Jackson ran?
You're another sort, but you predict
That your party'll get consummately licked?'
Good God! what a queer old man!
Scheme | ABAABXCCDCEECFGHHGFIDDJJIKKLLMMXAANDNDOAOAPPQQRRNN NPSSP |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (22%) |
Metre | 1011001111 01011111 10100110101 1010010101 10111 1111001011 01111001 11101111 011110111 111111 1010110111 01111 1010011111 11111101011 1100111 11001011101 11111010101 1111 01011111 111100101 10111111 0111001 11110 111010 101101001 1100101101 1101 1111111 111010111 1011001101 111011111 11110101 01001 11011 101011 11011 111011 1111111 1011111111 1110111 1010111111 0010101 11001111 111110101 1100111 1 110010 10100010 0110100101 0010111 110110010 1100101 101011101 111111 1110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,761 |
Words | 351 |
Sentences | 29 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 50, 5 |
Lines Amount | 55 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 684 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 174 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:49 min read
- 111 Views
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"Lusus Politicus" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1830/lusus-politicus>.
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