To The Bartholdi Statue

Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)



O Liberty, God-gifted
Young and immortal maid
In your high hand uplifted;
The torch declares your trade.

Its crimson menace, flaming
Upon the sea and shore,
Is, trumpet-like, proclaiming
That Law shall be no more.

Austere incendiary,
We're blinking in the light;
Where is your customary
Grenade of dynamite?

Where are your staves and switches
For men of gentle birth?
Your mask and dirk for riches?
Your chains for wit and worth?

Perhaps, you've brought the halters
You used in the old days,
When round religion's altars
You stabled Cromwell's bays?

Behind you, unsuspected,
Have you the axe, fair wench,
Wherewith you once collected
A poll-tax from the French?

America salutes you
Preparing to disgorge.
Take everything that suits you,
And marry Henry George.

1894

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
97

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCB DEDE FGFG HIHI JKJK CLAL MNMN
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 745
Words 127
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. more…

All Ambrose Bierce poems | Ambrose Bierce Books

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