Analysis of To A Professional Eulogist
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
Newman, in you two parasites combine:
As tapeworm and as graveworm too you shine.
When on the virtues of the quick you've dwelt,
The pride of residence was all you felt
(What vain vulgarian the wish ne'er knew
To paint his lodging a flamboyant hue?)
And when the praises of the dead you've sung,
'Twas appetite, not truth, inspired your tongue;
As ill-bred men when warming to their wine
Boast of its merit though it be but brine.
Nor gratitude incites your song, nor should-
Even charity would shun you if she could.
You share, 'tis true, the rich man's daily dole,
But what you get you take by way of toll.
Vain to resist you-vermifuge alone
Has power to push you from your robber throne.
When to escape you he's compelled to die
Hey! presto!-in the twinkling of an eye
You vanish as a tapeworm, reappear
As graveworm and resume your curst career.
As host no more, to satisfy your need
He serves as dinner your unaltered greed.
O thrifty sycophant of wealth and fame,
Son of servility and priest of shame,
While naught your mad ambition can abate
To lick the spittle of the rich and great;
While still like smoke your eulogies arise
To soot your heroes and inflame our eyes;
While still with holy oil, like that which ran
Down Aaron's beard, you smear each famous man,
I cannot choose but think it very odd
It ne'er occurs to you to fawn on God.
Scheme | AABBCCDDAAEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOO |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 100111010 11011111 1101010111 0111001111 1110111 1111000101 0101010111 1101101011 1111110111 1111011111 110011111 10100111111 1111011101 1111111111 11011101 11011111101 1101110111 1100100111 11010101 110011101 111111011 1111010101 11011101 1110111 1111010101 1101010101 1111110001 11110001101 1111011111 1101111101 1101111101 1101111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,324 |
Words | 252 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 32 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,054 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 248 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:17 min read
- 80 Views
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"To A Professional Eulogist" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1999/to-a-professional-eulogist>.
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