An Example
They were two deaf mutes, and they loved and theyResolved to be groom and bride;And they listened to nothing that any could say,Nor ever a word replied.
From wedlock when warned by the married men,Maintain an invincible mind:Be deaf and dumb until wedded--and thenBe deaf and dumb and blind.
Words in this poem
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Example 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, An Example, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/an-example.html, id L28149.
Form and metre
An Example is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is anapaestic common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in anapaestic common measure.
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 ABAB theyA · brideB · sayA · repliedB
- 2 ABAB menA · mindB · thenA · blindB
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 anapaestic common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| They were two deaf mutes, and they loved and they | 10 | ·········· |
| Resolved to be groom and bride; | 7 | ˘/····· |
| And they listened to nothing that any could say, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Nor ever a word replied. | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| From wedlock when warned by the married men, | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| Maintain an invincible mind: | 8 | ˘/·˘/˘˘· |
| Be deaf and dumb until wedded--and then | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Be deaf and dumb and blind. | 6 | ······ |
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.