Section: «Poems»
Verse (ancient Greek ὁ στίχος — row, structure), a term in versification used in several meanings:
artistic speech organized by division into rhythmically commensurate segments; poetry in the narrow sense; in particular, it implies the properties of versification of a particular tradition ("antique verse", "Akhmatova's verse", etc.);
a line of poetic text organized according to a certain rhythmic pattern ("My uncle of the most honest rules").
The Night Of Election
'O venerable patriot, I prayStand not here coatless; at the break of dayWe'll know the grand result-and even nowThe eastern sky is faintly touched..
© Ambrose Bierce
The New 'Ulalume'
The skies they were ashen and sober,The leaves they were crisped and sere,' ' ' withering ' 'It was night in the lonesome OctoberOf my most..
© Ambrose Bierce
The New Enoch
Enoch Arden was an ableSeaman; hear of his mishapNot in wild mendacious fable,As 't was told by t' other chap;For I hold it is a youthfulIndiscretion..
© Ambrose Bierce
The New Decalogue
Have but one God: thy knees were sore If bent in prayer to three or four. Adore no images save those The coinage of thy country shows. Take not..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Naval Constructor
He looked upon the ships as theyAll idly lay at anchor,Their sides with gorgeous workmen gayThe riveter and plankerRepublicans and..
© Ambrose Bierce
The National Guardsman
I'm a gorgeous golden heroAnd my trade is taking life.Hear the twittle-twittle-tweeroOf my sibillating fifeAnd the rub-a-dub-a-dumOf my big bass..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Mummery
THE TWO CAVEESDRAMATIS PERSONAE.FITCH _a Pelter of Railrogues_PICKERING _his Partner, an Enemy to Sin_OLD NICK _a General Blackwasher_DEAD CAT _a..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Militiaman
'O warrior with the burnished armsWith bullion cord and tasselPray tell me of the lurid charmsOf service and the fierce alarms:The storming of the..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Man Born Blind
A man born blind received his sightBy a painful operation;And these are things he saw in the lightOf an infant observation.He saw a merchant, good..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Mad Philosopher
The flabby wine-skin of his brainYields to some pathologic strain,And voids from its unstored abysmThe driblet of an aphorism.
© Ambrose Bierce
The Mackaiad
Mackay's hot wrath to Bonynge, direful springOf blows unnumbered, heavenly goddess, singThat wrath which hurled to Hellman's office floorTwo heroes..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Lost Colonel
''Tis a woeful yarn,' said the sailor man boldWho had sailed the northern-lakes'No woefuler one has ever been toldExceptin' them called 'fakes.'''Go..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Lord's Prayer On A Coin
Upon this quarter-eagle's leveled face,The Lord's Prayer, legibly inscribed, I trace.'Our Father which'-the pronoun there is funny,And shows the..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Legend Of Immortal Truth
A bear, having spread him a notable feast,Invited a famishing fox to the place.'I've killed me,' quoth he, 'an edible beastAs ever distended the..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Legatee
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..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Last Man
I dreamed that Gabriel took his hornOn Resurrection's fateful morn,And lighting upon Laurel HillBlew long, blew loud, blew high and shrill.The houses..
© Ambrose Bierce
The King Of Bores
Abundant bores afflict this world, and someAre bores of magnitude that-come and-no,They're always coming, but they never goLike funeral pageants, as..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Key Note
I dreamed I was dreaming one morn as I layIn a garden with flowers teeming.On an island I lay in a mystical bay,In the dream I dreamed I was..
© Ambrose Bierce
The In-Coming Climate
Now o' nights the ocean breezeMakes the patient flinch,For that zephyr bears a sneezeIn every cubic inch.Lo! the lively populationChorusing in..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Humorist
'What is that, mother?''The funny man, child.His hands are black, but his heart is mild.''May I touch him, mother?'''T were foolishly done:He is..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Hesitating Veteran
When I was young and full of faithAnd other fads that youngsters cherishA cry rose as of one that saithWith emphasis: 'Help or I perish!''Twas heard..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Hermit
To a hunter from the city,Overtaken by the night,Spake, in tones of tender pityFor himself, an aged wight:'I have found the world a fountainOf deceit..
© Ambrose Bierce
The God's View-Point
Cheeta Raibama Chunder Sen,The wisest and the best of men,Betook him to the place where satWith folded feet upon a matOf precious stones beneath a..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Genesis Of Embarrassment
When Adam first saw Eve he said:'O lovely creature, share my bed.'Before consenting, she her gazeFixed on the greensward to appraise,As well as..
© Ambrose Bierce
The Gates Ajar
The Day of Judgment spread its glareO'er continents and seas.The graves cracked open everywhere,Like pods of early peas.Up to the Court of Heaven..
© Ambrose Bierce