Another Way
I lay in silence, dead. A woman cameAnd laid a rose upon my breast and said:"May God be merciful." She spoke my name,And added: "It is strange to think him dead.
"He loved me well enough, but 't was his wayTo speak it lightly." Then, beneath her breath:"Besides"--I knew what further she would say,But then a footfall broke my dream of death.
To-day the words are mine. I lay the roseUpon her breast, and speak her name and deemIt strange indeed that she is dead. God knowsI had more pleasure in the other dream.
Words in this poem
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- footfall n.
- A setting down of the foot; a footstep; the sound of a footstep.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Another Way 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, Another Way, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/another-way.html, id L28056.
Form and metre
Another Way is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABAB cameA · saidB · nameA · deadB
- 2 ABAB wayA · breathB · sayA · deathB
- 3 ABAB roseA · deemB · knowsA · dreamB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I lay in silence, dead. A woman came | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And laid a rose upon my breast and said: | 10 | ·········· |
| "May God be merciful." She spoke my name, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| And added: "It is strange to think him dead. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| "He loved me well enough, but 't was his way | 11 | ····˘/····· |
| To speak it lightly." Then, beneath her breath: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| "Besides"--I knew what further she would say, | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| But then a footfall broke my dream of death. | 10 | ···/······ |
| To-day the words are mine. I lay the rose | 10 | ·········· |
| Upon her breast, and speak her name and deem | 10 | ·········· |
| It strange indeed that she is dead. God knows | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| I had more pleasure in the other dream. | 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.