Arthur McEwen
Posterity with all its eyesWill come and view him where he lies.Then, turning from the scene awayWith a concerted shrug, will say:"H'm, Scarabaeus Sisyphus--What interest has that to us?We can't admire at all, at all,A tumble-bug without its ball."And then a sage will rise and say:"Good friends, you err--turn back, I pray:This freak that you unwisely shunIs bug and ball rolled into one."
Words in this poem
- shrug v. t.
- To draw up or contract (the shoulders), especially by way of expressing dislike, dread, doubt, or the like. [Probably akin to shrink, p. p. shrunk; cf. Dan. skrugge, skrukke, to stoop, dial. Sw. skrukka, skruga, to crouch.]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- unwisely adv.
- In an unwise manner; foolishly. [AS. unwislice.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Arthur McEwen 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, Arthur McEwen, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/arthur-mcewen.html, id L28003.
Form and metre
Arthur McEwen is 12 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFF eyesA · liesA · awayB · sayB · sisyphusC · usC · allD · ballD · sayE · prayE · shunF · oneF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Posterity with all its eyes | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| Will come and view him where he lies. | 8 | ········ |
| Then, turning from the scene away | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| With a concerted shrug, will say: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| "H'm, Scarabaeus Sisyphus-- | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| What interest has that to us? | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| We can't admire at all, at all, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| A tumble-bug without its ball." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And then a sage will rise and say: | 8 | ········ |
| "Good friends, you err--turn back, I pray: | 8 | ········ |
| This freak that you unwisely shun | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Is bug and ball rolled into one." | 8 | ········ |
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.