A Whipper-In
Dudley, great placeman, man of mark and note,Worthy of honor from a feeble penBlunted in service of all true, good men,You serve the Lord--in courses, table d'hôte:Au, naturel, as well as à la Nick--"Eat and be thankful, though it make you sick."
O, truly pious caterer, forbearTo push the Saviour and Him crucified(Brochette you'd call it) into their insideWho're all unused to such ambrosial fare.The stomach of the soul makes quick revulsionOf aught that it has taken on compulsion.
I search the Scriptures, but I do not findThat e'er the Spirit beats with angry wingsFor entrance to the heart, but sits and singsTo charm away the scruples of the mind.It says: "Receive me, please; I'll not compel"--Though if you don't you will go straight to Hell!
Well, that's compulsion, you will say. 'T is true:We cower timidly beneath the rodLifted in menace by an angry God,But won't endure it from an ape like you.Detested simian with thumb prehensile,Switch me and I would brain you with my pencil!
Face you the Throne, nor dare to turn your backOn its transplendency to flog some wightWho gropes and stumbles in the infernal nightYour ugly shadow lays along his track.O, Thou who from the Temple scourged the sin,Behold what rascals try to scourge it in!
Words in this poem
- placeman n.
- One who holds or occupies a place; one who has office under government.
- nick n.
- A notch cut into something; as: (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. [Akin to Nock.]
- thankful a.
- Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
- caterer n.
- One who caters.
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- brochette n.
- A small spit or skewer.
- ambrosial a.
- Consisting of, or partaking of the nature of, ambrosia; delighting the taste or smell; delicious.
- revulsion n.
- A strong pulling or drawing back; withdrawal. [F. révulsion, L. revulsio, fr. revellere, revulsum, to pluck or pull away; pref. re- re- + vellere to pull. Cf. Convulse.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- simian a.
- Of or pertaining to the family Simiadæ, which, in its widest sense, includes all the Old World apes and monkeys; also, apelike. [L. simia an ape.]
- transplendency n.
- Quality or state of being transplendent. Dr. H. More.
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- scourge n.
- A lash; a strap or cord; especially, a lash used to inflict pain or punishment; an instrument of punishment or discipline; a whip. [F. escourgée, fr. L. excoriata (sc. scutica) a stripped off (lash or whip), fr. excoriate to strip, to skin. See Excoriate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Whipper-In 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 Whipper-In, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/a-whipper-in.html, id L28142.
Form and metre
A Whipper-In is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBACC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABBACC noteA · penB · menB · d'hôteA · nickC · sickC
- 2 ABBACC forbearA · crucifiedB · insideB · fareA · revulsionC · compulsionC
- 3 ABBACC findA · wingsB · singsB · mindA · compelC · hellC
- 4 ABBACC trueA · rodB · godB · youA · prehensileC · pencilC
- 5 ABBACC backA · wightB · nightB · trackA · sinC · inC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dudley, great placeman, man of mark and note, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Worthy of honor from a feeble pen | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Blunted in service of all true, good men, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| You serve the Lord--in courses, table d'hôte: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Au, naturel, as well as à la Nick-- | 9 | ········· |
| "Eat and be thankful, though it make you sick." | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| O, truly pious caterer, forbear | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| To push the Saviour and Him crucified | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| (Brochette you'd call it) into their inside | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Who're all unused to such ambrosial fare. | 11 | /˘·˘/··˘/˘· |
| The stomach of the soul makes quick revulsion | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Of aught that it has taken on compulsion. | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| I search the Scriptures, but I do not find | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That e'er the Spirit beats with angry wings | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For entrance to the heart, but sits and sings | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To charm away the scruples of the mind. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| It says: "Receive me, please; I'll not compel"-- | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Though if you don't you will go straight to Hell! | 10 | ·········· |
| Well, that's compulsion, you will say. 'T is true: | 11 | ··˘/˘······ |
| We cower timidly beneath the rod | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| Lifted in menace by an angry God, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| But won't endure it from an ape like you. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Detested simian with thumb prehensile, | 11 | ˘/˘/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| Switch me and I would brain you with my pencil! | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Face you the Throne, nor dare to turn your back | 10 | ·········· |
| On its transplendency to flog some wight | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| Who gropes and stumbles in the infernal night | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘· |
| Your ugly shadow lays along his track. | 10 | ·/˘/··˘/·· |
| O, Thou who from the Temple scourged the sin, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Behold what rascals try to scourge it in! | 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.