Azrael
The moon in the field of the keel-plowed mainWas watching the growing tide:A luminous peasant was driving his wain,And he offered my soul a ride.
But I nourished a sorrow uncommonly tall,And I fixed him fast with mine eye."O, peasant," I sang with a dying fall,"Go leave me to sing and die."
The water was weltering round my feet,As prone on the beach they lay.I chanted my death-song loud and sweet;"Kioodle, ioodle, iay!"
Then I heard the swish of erecting earsWhich caught that enchanted strain.The ocean was swollen with storms of tearsThat fell from the shining swain.
"O, poet," leapt he to the soaken sand,"That ravishing song would makeThe devil a saint." He held out his handAnd solemnly added: "Shake."
We shook. "I crave a victim, you see,"He said--"you came hither to die."The Angel of Death, 't was he! 't was he!And the victim he crove was I!
'T was I, Fred Emerson Brooks, the bard;And he knocked me on the head.O Lord! I thought it exceedingly hard,For I didn't want to be dead.
"You'll sing no worser for that," said he,And he drove with my soul away,O, death-song singers, be warned by me,Kioodle, ioodle, iay!
Words in this poem
- wain n.
- A four-wheeled vehicle for the transportation of goods, produce, etc.; a wagon. [OE. wain, AS. wægn; akin to D. & G. wagen, OHG. wagan, Icel. & Sw. vagn, Dan. vogn, and E. way. Way, Weigh, and cf. Wagon.]
- swish v. t.
- To flourish, so as to make the sound swish. Coleridge. [From the sound. Cf. Swash.]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- ravishing a.
- Rapturous; transporting.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- fred n.
- Peace; -- a word used in composition, especially in proper names; as, Alfred; Frederic. [AS. fri peace. See Frith inclosure.]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Azrael 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, Azrael, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/azrael.html, id L28207.
Form and metre
Azrael is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is anapaestic common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
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 mainA · tideB · wainA · rideB
- 2 ABAB tallA · eyeB · fallA · dieB
- 3 ABAB feetA · layB · sweetA · iayB
- 4 ABAB earsA · strainB · tearsA · swainB
- 5 ABAB sandA · makeB · handA · shakeB
- 6 ABAB seeA · dieB · heA · iB
- 7 ABAB bardA · headB · hardA · deadB
- 8 ABAB heA · awayB · meA · iayB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The moon in the field of the keel-plowed main | 10 | ·········· |
| Was watching the growing tide: | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| A luminous peasant was driving his wain, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| And he offered my soul a ride. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| But I nourished a sorrow uncommonly tall, | 11 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| And I fixed him fast with mine eye. | 8 | ········ |
| "O, peasant," I sang with a dying fall, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| "Go leave me to sing and die." | 7 | ······· |
| The water was weltering round my feet, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘··· |
| As prone on the beach they lay. | 7 | ······· |
| I chanted my death-song loud and sweet; | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| "Kioodle, ioodle, iay!" | 5 | ····· |
| Then I heard the swish of erecting ears | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Which caught that enchanted strain. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| The ocean was swollen with storms of tears | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| That fell from the shining swain. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "O, poet," leapt he to the soaken sand, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| "That ravishing song would make | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The devil a saint." He held out his hand | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And solemnly added: "Shake." | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| We shook. "I crave a victim, you see," | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| He said--"you came hither to die." | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| The Angel of Death, 't was he! 't was he! | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| And the victim he crove was I! | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| 'T was I, Fred Emerson Brooks, the bard; | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| And he knocked me on the head. | 7 | ······· |
| O Lord! I thought it exceedingly hard, | 10 | ·····˘/˘˘· |
| For I didn't want to be dead. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| "You'll sing no worser for that," said he, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And he drove with my soul away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| O, death-song singers, be warned by me, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Kioodle, ioodle, iay! | 5 | ····· |
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