Business
Two villains of the highest rankSet out one night to rob a bank.They found the building, looked it o'er,Each window noted, tried each door,Scanned carefully the lidded holeFor minstrels to cascade the coal--In short, examined five-and-twentyGood paths from poverty to plenty.But all were sealed, they saw full soon,Against the minions of the moon."Enough," said one: "I'm satisfied."The other, smiling fair and wide,Said: "I'm as highly pleased as you:No burglar ever can get through.Fate surely prospers our design--The booty all is yours and mine."So, full of hope, the following dayTo the exchange they took their wayAnd bought, with manner free and frank,Some stock of that devoted bank;And they became, inside the year,One President and one Cashier.
Their crime I can no further trace--The means of safety to embrace,I overdrew and left the place.
Words in this poem
- lidded a.
- Covered with a lid. Keats.
- cascade n.
- A fall of water over a precipice, as in a river or brook; a waterfall less than a cataract. [F. cascade, fr. It. cascata, fr. cascare to ball.]
- burglar n.
- One guilty of the crime of burglary. Burglar alarm, a device for giving alarm if a door or window is opened from without. [OE. burg town, F. bourg, fr. LL. burgus (of German origin) + OF. lere thief, fr. L. latro. See Borough, and Larceny.]
- cashier n.
- One who has charge of money; a cash keeper; the officer who has charge of the payments and receipts (moneys, checks, notes), of a bank or a mercantile company. [F. caissier, fr. caisse. See Cash.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Business 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, Business, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/business.html, id L28007.
Form and metre
Business is 25 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 rankA · bankA · o'erB · doorB · holeC · coalC · twentyD · plentyD · soonE · moonE · satisfiedF · wideF · youG · throughG · designH · mineH · dayI · wayI · frankJ · bankJ · yearK · cashierK
- 2 AAA traceA · embraceA · placeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Two villains of the highest rank | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Set out one night to rob a bank. | 8 | ········ |
| They found the building, looked it o'er, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each window noted, tried each door, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Scanned carefully the lidded hole | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| For minstrels to cascade the coal-- | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| In short, examined five-and-twenty | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Good paths from poverty to plenty. | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| But all were sealed, they saw full soon, | 8 | ········ |
| Against the minions of the moon. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Enough," said one: "I'm satisfied." | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| The other, smiling fair and wide, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Said: "I'm as highly pleased as you: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No burglar ever can get through. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Fate surely prospers our design-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘/ |
| The booty all is yours and mine." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So, full of hope, the following day | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To the exchange they took their way | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And bought, with manner free and frank, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Some stock of that devoted bank; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And they became, inside the year, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| One President and one Cashier. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Their crime I can no further trace-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The means of safety to embrace, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I overdrew and left the place. | 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.