A Black-List
"Resolved that we will post," the tradesmen say,"All names of debtors who do never pay.""Whose shall be first?" inquires the ready scribe--"Who are the chiefs of the marauding tribe?"Lo! high Parnassus, lifting from the plain,Upon his hoary peak, a noble fane!Within that temple all the names are scrolledOf village bards upon a slab of gold;To that bad eminence, my friend, aspire,And copy thou the Roll of Fame, entire.Yet not to total shame those names devote,But add in mercy this explaining note:"These cheat because the law makes theft a crime,And they obey all laws but laws of rhyme."
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- scribe n.
- One who writes; a draughtsman; a writer for another; especially, an offical or public writer; an amanuensis or secretary; a notary; a copyist. [L. scriba, fr. scribere to write; cf. Gr. scarify. Cf. Ascribe, Describe, Script, Scrivener, Scrutoire.]
- parnassus n.
- A mountain in Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and famous for a temple of Apollo and for the Castalian spring. Grass of Parnassus. (Bot.) See under Grass, and Parnassia.
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- scrolled a.
- Formed like a scroll; contained in a scroll; adorned with scrolls; as, scrolled work.
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Black-List is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shapes of Clay (1903), Project Gutenberg ebook #12658; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ambrose Bierce, A Black-List, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/a-black-list.html, id L28092.
Form and metre
A Black-List is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDD--EEFF sayA · payA · scribeB · tribeB · plainC · faneC · scrolledD · goldD · aspire · entire · devoteE · noteE · crimeF · rhymeF
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Resolved that we will post," the tradesmen say, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| "All names of debtors who do never pay." | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| "Whose shall be first?" inquires the ready scribe-- | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| "Who are the chiefs of the marauding tribe?" | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Lo! high Parnassus, lifting from the plain, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Upon his hoary peak, a noble fane! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Within that temple all the names are scrolled | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of village bards upon a slab of gold; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To that bad eminence, my friend, aspire, | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| And copy thou the Roll of Fame, entire. | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Yet not to total shame those names devote, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But add in mercy this explaining note: | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| "These cheat because the law makes theft a crime, | 10 | ·········· |
| And they obey all laws but laws of rhyme." | 10 | ··˘/······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.