At the "National Encampment"
You 're grayer than one would have thought you:The climate you have over thereIn the East has apparently brought youDisorders affecting the hair,Which--pardon me--seems a thought spare.
You'll not take offence at my givingExpression to notions like these.You might have been stronger if livingOut here in our sanative breeze.It's unhealthy here for disease.
No, I'm not as plump as a pullet.But that's the old wound, you see.Remember my paunching a bullet?--And how that it didn't agreeWith--well, honest hardtack for me.
Just pass me the wine--I've a hellyAnd horrible kind of drouth!When a fellow has that in his bellyWhich didn't go in at his mouthHe's hotter than all Down South!
Great Scott! what a nasty day that was--When every galoot in our crackDivision who didn't lie flat wasDissuaded from further attackBy the bullet's felicitous whack.
'Twas there that our major slept underSome cannon of ours on the crest,Till they woke him by stilling their thunder,And he cursed them for breaking his rest,And died in the midst of his jest.
That night--it was late in November--The dead seemed uncommonly chillTo the touch; and one chap I rememberWho took it exceedingly illWhen I dragged myself over his bill.
Well, comrades, I'm off now--good morning.Your talk is as pleasant as pie,But, pardon me, one word of warning:Speak little of self, say I.That's my way. God bless you. Good-bye.
Words in this poem
- apparently adv.
- Visibly. Hobbes.
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
- sanative a.
- Having the power to cure or heal; healing; tending to heal; sanatory. [LL. sanativus.]
- pullet n.
- A young hen, or female of the domestic fowl. Pullet sperm, the treadle of an egg. [OE. polete, OF. polete, F. poulette, dim. of poule a hen, fr. L. pullus a young animal, a young fowl. See Foal, and cf. Poult, Poultry, Pool stake.]
- helly a.
- Hellish. Anderson (1573). [AS. hellic.]
- galoot n.
- A noisy, swaggering, or worthless fellow; a rowdy. [Slang, U.
- felicitous a.
- Characterized by felicity; happy; prosperous; delightful; skilful; successful; happily applied or expressed; appropriate.
- whack v. t.
- To strike; to beat; to give a heavy or resounding blow to; to thrash; to make with whacks. [Cf. Thwack.]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At the "National Encampment" 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, At the "National Encampment", in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/at-the-national-encampment.html, id L28183.
Form and metre
At the "National Encampment" is 40 lines in 8 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABB. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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 ABABB youA · thereB · youA · hairB · spareB
- 2 ABABB givingA · theseB · livingA · breezeB · diseaseB
- 3 ABABB pulletA · seeB · bulletA · agreeB · meB
- 4 ABABB hellyA · drouthB · bellyA · mouthB · southB
- 5 ABABB wasA · crackB · wasA · attackB · whackB
- 6 ABABB underA · crestB · thunderA · restB · jestB
- 7 ABABB novemberA · chillB · rememberA · illB · billB
- 8 ABABB morningA · pieB · warningA · iB · byeB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| You 're grayer than one would have thought you: | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| The climate you have over there | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In the East has apparently brought you | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Disorders affecting the hair, | 8 | ˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| Which--pardon me--seems a thought spare. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| You'll not take offence at my giving | 9 | ···˘/··/˘ |
| Expression to notions like these. | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘·· |
| You might have been stronger if living | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Out here in our sanative breeze. | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| It's unhealthy here for disease. | 8 | ·˘/˘··˘/ |
| No, I'm not as plump as a pullet. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But that's the old wound, you see. | 7 | ······· |
| Remember my paunching a bullet?-- | 9 | ˘/˘····/˘ |
| And how that it didn't agree | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| With--well, honest hardtack for me. | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Just pass me the wine--I've a helly | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And horrible kind of drouth! | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| When a fellow has that in his belly | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| Which didn't go in at his mouth | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He's hotter than all Down South! | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Great Scott! what a nasty day that was-- | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| When every galoot in our crack | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/·/˘· |
| Division who didn't lie flat was | 9 | ˘/˘·/˘··· |
| Dissuaded from further attack | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| By the bullet's felicitous whack. | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘˘· |
| 'Twas there that our major slept under | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Some cannon of ours on the crest, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Till they woke him by stilling their thunder, | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| And he cursed them for breaking his rest, | 10 | ···˘··/˘·· |
| And died in the midst of his jest. | 8 | ········ |
| That night--it was late in November-- | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| The dead seemed uncommonly chill | 9 | ···˘·/˘˘· |
| To the touch; and one chap I remember | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Who took it exceedingly ill | 8 | ···˘/˘˘· |
| When I dragged myself over his bill. | 10 | ···˘·/···· |
| Well, comrades, I'm off now--good morning. | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| Your talk is as pleasant as pie, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| But, pardon me, one word of warning: | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Speak little of self, say I. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| That's my way. God bless you. Good-bye. | 8 | ········ |
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