A False Prophecy
Dom Pedro, Emperor of far Brazil(Whence coffee comes and the three-cornered nut),They say that you're imperially ill,And threatened with paralysis. Tut-tut!Though Emperors are mortal, nothing butA nimble thunderbolt could catch and killA man predestined to depart this lifeBy the assassin's bullet, bomb or knife.
Sir, once there was a President who freedTen million slaves; and once there was a CzarWho freed five times as many serfs. Sins breedThe means of punishment, and tyrants areHurled headlong out of the triumphal carIf faster than the law allows they speed.Lincoln and Alexander struck a rut;You freed slaves too. Paralysis--tut-tut!
Words in this poem
- cornered p. a.
- 1 Having corners or angles.
- imperially adv.
- In an imperial manner.
- thunderbolt n.
- A shaft of lightning; a brilliant stream of electricity passing from one part of the heavens to another, or from the clouds to the earth.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- bomb n.
- A great noise; a hollow sound. [F. bombe bombshell, fr. L. bombus a humming or buzzing noise, Gr. .]
- triumphal n.
- A token of victory.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A False Prophecy 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 False Prophecy, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/a-false-prophecy.html, id L28177.
Form and metre
A False Prophecy is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABBACC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See 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 ABABBACC brazilA · nutB · illA · tutB · butB · killA · lifeC · knifeC
- 2 ABABBACC freedA · czarB · breedA · areB · carB · speedA · rutC · tutC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dom Pedro, Emperor of far Brazil | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| (Whence coffee comes and the three-cornered nut), | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| They say that you're imperially ill, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘˘· |
| And threatened with paralysis. Tut-tut! | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘·· |
| Though Emperors are mortal, nothing but | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| A nimble thunderbolt could catch and kill | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| A man predestined to depart this life | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| By the assassin's bullet, bomb or knife. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Sir, once there was a President who freed | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Ten million slaves; and once there was a Czar | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Who freed five times as many serfs. Sins breed | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The means of punishment, and tyrants are | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Hurled headlong out of the triumphal car | 10 | ·/····˘/˘· |
| If faster than the law allows they speed. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Lincoln and Alexander struck a rut; | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| You freed slaves too. Paralysis--tut-tut! | 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.