Bereavement
A Countess (so they tell the tale)Who dwelt of old in Arno's vale,Where ladies, even of high degree,Know more of love than of A.B.C,Came once with a prodigious bribeUnto the learned village scribe,That most discreet and honest manWho wrote for all the lover clan,Nor e'er a secret had betrayed--Save when inadequately paid."Write me," she sobbed--"I pray thee do--A book about the Prince di Giu--A book of poetry in praiseOf all his works and all his ways;The godlike grace of his address,His more than woman's tenderness,His courage stern and lack of guile,The loves that wantoned in his smile.So great he was, so rich and kind,I'll not within a fortnight findHis equal as a lover. O,My God! I shall be drowned in woe!"
"What! Prince di Giu has died!" exclaimedThe honest man for letters famed,The while he pocketed her gold;"Of what'?--if I may be so bold."Fresh storms of tears the lady shed:"I stabbed him fifty times," she said.
Words in this poem
- countess n.
- The wife of an earl in the British peerage, or of a count in the Continental nobility; also, a lady possessed of the same dignity in her own right. See the Note under Count. [F. comtesse. See Count a nobleman.]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- prodigious a.
- Of the nature of a prodigy; marvelous; wonderful; portentous. [L. prodigiosus, fr. prodigium a prodigy; cf. F. prodigieux. See Prodigy.]
- bribe n.
- A gift begged; a present. [F. bribe a lump of bread, scraps, leavings of meals (that are generally given to a beggar), LL. briba scrap of bread; cf. OF. briber, brifer, to eat gluttonousl]
- scribe n.
- One who writes; a draughtsman; a writer for another; especially, an offical or public writer; an amanuensis or secretary; a notary; a copyist. [L. scriba, fr. scribere to write; cf. Gr. scarify. Cf. Ascribe, Describe, Script, Scrivener, Scrutoire.]
- discreet a.
- Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent; sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. [F. discret, L. discretus separated (whence the meaning reserved, prudent), p. p. of discernere. See Discern, and cf. Discrete.]
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- fortnight n.
- The space of fourteen days; two weeks. [Contr. fr. fourteen nights, our ancestors reckoning time by nights and winters; so, also, seven nights, sennight, a week.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bereavement 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, Bereavement, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/bereavement.html, id L28162.
Form and metre
Bereavement is 28 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK taleA · valeA · degreeB · a.b.cB · bribeC · scribeC · manD · clanD · betrayedE · paidE · doF · giuF · praiseG · waysG · addressH · tendernessH · guileI · smileI · kindJ · findJ · oK · woeK
- 2 AABBCC exclaimedA · famedA · goldB · boldB · shedC · saidC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A Countess (so they tell the tale) | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who dwelt of old in Arno's vale, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where ladies, even of high degree, | 8 | ·/˘/··˘/ |
| Know more of love than of A.B.C, | 9 | ········· |
| Came once with a prodigious bribe | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Unto the learned village scribe, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That most discreet and honest man | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Who wrote for all the lover clan, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor e'er a secret had betrayed-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Save when inadequately paid. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘· |
| "Write me," she sobbed--"I pray thee do-- | 8 | ········ |
| A book about the Prince di Giu-- | 8 | ········ |
| A book of poetry in praise | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Of all his works and all his ways; | 8 | ········ |
| The godlike grace of his address, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| His more than woman's tenderness, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| His courage stern and lack of guile, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The loves that wantoned in his smile. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So great he was, so rich and kind, | 8 | ········ |
| I'll not within a fortnight find | 8 | ·····/·· |
| His equal as a lover. O, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| My God! I shall be drowned in woe!" | 8 | ········ |
| "What! Prince di Giu has died!" exclaimed | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The honest man for letters famed, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The while he pocketed her gold; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| "Of what'?--if I may be so bold." | 8 | ········ |
| Fresh storms of tears the lady shed: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "I stabbed him fifty times," she said. | 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.