A Fool
Says Anderson, Theosophist:"Among the many that existIn modern halls,Some lived in ancient Egypt's climeAnd in their childhood saw the primeOf Karnak's walls."
Ah, Anderson, if that is true'T is my conviction, sir, that youAre one of thoseThat once resided by the Nile,Peer to the sacred Crocodile,Heir to his woes.
My judgment is, the holy CatMews through your larynx (and your hat)These many years.Through you the godlike Onion bringsIts melancholy sense of things,And moves to tears.
In you the Bull divine againBellows and paws the dusty plain,To nature true.I challenge not his ancient hateBut, lowering my knurly pate,Lock horns with you.
And though Reincarnation proveA creed too stubborn to remove,And all your schoolOf Theosophs I cannot scare--All the more earnestly I swearThat you're a fool.
You'll say that this is mere abuseWithout, in fraying you, a use.That's plain to seeWith only half an eye. Come, now,Be fair, be fair,--consider howIt eases me!
Words in this poem
- theosophist n.
- One addicted to theosophy.
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- mews n.
- An alley where there are stables; a narrow passage; a confined place. [Eng.] [Prop. pl. of mew. See Mew a cage.]
- knurly superl.
- Full of knots; hard; tough; hence, capable of enduring or resisting much. [See Knur, and cf. Gnarly.]
- pate n.
- A pie. See Patty. [F. pâté.]
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
- fraying n.
- The skin which a deer frays from his horns. B. Jonson.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Fool 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 Fool, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/a-fool.html, id L28120.
Form and metre
A Fool is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABCCB theosophistA · existA · hallsB · climeC · primeC · wallsB
- 2 AABCCB trueA · youA · thoseB · nileC · crocodileC · woesB
- 3 AABCCB catA · hatA · yearsB · bringsC · thingsC · tearsB
- 4 AABCCB againA · plainA · trueB · hateC · pateC · youB
- 5 AABCCB proveA · removeA · schoolB · scareC · swearC · foolB
- 6 AABCCB abuseA · useA · seeB · nowC · howC · meB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Says Anderson, Theosophist: | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| "Among the many that exist | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| In modern halls, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Some lived in ancient Egypt's clime | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And in their childhood saw the prime | 8 | ···/···· |
| Of Karnak's walls." | 4 | ···· |
| Ah, Anderson, if that is true | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| 'T is my conviction, sir, that you | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Are one of those | 4 | ···· |
| That once resided by the Nile, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Peer to the sacred Crocodile, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Heir to his woes. | 4 | ···· |
| My judgment is, the holy Cat | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Mews through your larynx (and your hat) | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| These many years. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Through you the godlike Onion brings | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Its melancholy sense of things, | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| And moves to tears. | 4 | ···· |
| In you the Bull divine again | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Bellows and paws the dusty plain, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| To nature true. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I challenge not his ancient hate | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But, lowering my knurly pate, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Lock horns with you. | 4 | ···· |
| And though Reincarnation prove | 8 | ··˘˘˘/˘· |
| A creed too stubborn to remove, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And all your school | 4 | ···· |
| Of Theosophs I cannot scare-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| All the more earnestly I swear | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| That you're a fool. | 4 | ···· |
| You'll say that this is mere abuse | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Without, in fraying you, a use. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That's plain to see | 4 | ···· |
| With only half an eye. Come, now, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Be fair, be fair,--consider how | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| It eases me! | 4 | ·/˘· |
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