Analysis of The Legatee
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
In fair San Francisco a good man did dwell,
And he wrote out a will, for he didn't feel well.
Said he: 'It is proper, when making a gift,
To stimulate virtue by comforting thrift.'
So he left all his property, legal and straight,
To 'the cursedest rascal in all of the State.'
But the name he refused to insert, for, said he:
'Let each man consider himself legatee.'
In due course of time that philanthropist died,
And all San Francisco, and Oakland beside-
Save only the lawyers-came each with his claim,
The lawyers preferring to manage the same.
The cases were tried in Department Thirteen,
Judge Murphy presided, sedate and serene,
But couldn't quite specify, legal and straight,
The cursedest rascal in all of the State.
And so he remarked to them, little and big-
To claimants: 'You skip!' and to lawyers: 'You dig!'
They tumbled, tumultuous, out of his court
And left him victorious, holding the fort.
'Twas then that he said: 'It is plain to my mind
This property's ownerless-how can I find
The cursedest rascal in all of the State?'
So he took it himself, which was legal and straight.
Scheme | aabb ccxb ddee ffcC gghh iiCc |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (83%) |
Metre | 01101001111 011101111011 11111011001 1101011001 111111001001 1011001101 101101101111 111010011 01111101001 01101001001 11001011111 01001011001 01001001011 11001001001 1101101001 011001101 01101111001 11011011011 1101001111 01101001001 11111111111 110011111 011001101 111101111001 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 1,079 |
Words | 202 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 141 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 136 Views
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"The Legatee" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1940/the-legatee>.
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