Charles and Peter
Ere Gabriel's note to silence diedAll graves of men were gaping wide.
Then Charles A. Dana, of "The Sun,"Rose slowly from the deepest one.
"The dead in Christ rise first, 't is writ,"Quoth he--"ick, bick, ban, doe,--I'm It!"
(His headstone, footstone, counted slow,Were "ick" and "bick," he "ban" and "doe":
Of beating Nick the subtle artWas part of his immortal part.)
Then straight to Heaven he took his flight,Arriving at the Gates of Light.
There Warden Peter, in the throesOf sleep, lay roaring in the nose.
"Get up, you sluggard!" Dana cried--"I've an engagement there inside."
The Saint arose and scratched his head."I recollect your face," he said.
"(And, pardon me, 't is rather hard),But----" Dana handed him a card.
"Ah, yes, I now remember--blessMy soul, how dull I am I--yes, yes,
"We've nothing better here than bliss.Walk in. But I must tell you this:
"We've rest and comfort, though, and peace.""H'm--puddles," Dana said, "for geese.
"Have you in Heaven no Hell?" "Why, no,"Said Peter, "nor, in truth, below.
"'T is not included in our scheme--'T is but a preacher's idle dream."
The great man slowly moved away."I'll call," he said, "another day.
"On earth I played it, o'er and o'er,And Heaven without it were a bore."
"O, stuff!--come in. You'll make," said Pete,"A hell where'er you set your feet."
Words in this poem
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- headstone n.
- The principal stone in a foundation; the chief or corner stone.
- footstone n.
- The stone at the foot of a grave; -- opposed to headstone.
- nick n.
- A notch cut into something; as: (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. [Akin to Nock.]
- sluggard n.
- A person habitually lazy, idle, and inactive; a drone. [Slug + -ard.]
- recollect v. t.
- To recover or recall the knowledge of; to bring back to the mind or memory; to remember. [Pref. re- + collect: cf. L. recolligere, recollectum, to collect. Cf. Recollet.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Charles and Peter 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, Charles and Peter, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/charles-and-peter.html, id L28004.
Form and metre
Charles and Peter is 36 lines in 18 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AA diedA · wideA
- 2 AA sunA · oneA
- 3 AA writA · itA
- 4 AA slowA · doeA
- 5 AA artA · partA
- 6 AA flightA · lightA
- 7 AA throesA · noseA
- 8 AA criedA · insideA
- 9 AA headA · saidA
- 10 AA hardA · cardA
- 11 AA blessA · yesA
- 12 AA blissA · thisA
- 13 AA peaceA · geeseA
- 14 AA noA · belowA
- 15 AA schemeA · dreamA
- 16 AA awayA · dayA
- 18 AA peteA · feetA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ere Gabriel's note to silence died | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| All graves of men were gaping wide. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then Charles A. Dana, of "The Sun," | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Rose slowly from the deepest one. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "The dead in Christ rise first, 't is writ," | 9 | ········· |
| Quoth he--"ick, bick, ban, doe,--I'm It!" | 8 | ········ |
| (His headstone, footstone, counted slow, | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| Were "ick" and "bick," he "ban" and "doe": | 8 | ········ |
| Of beating Nick the subtle art | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Was part of his immortal part.) | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Then straight to Heaven he took his flight, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Arriving at the Gates of Light. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| There Warden Peter, in the throes | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of sleep, lay roaring in the nose. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Get up, you sluggard!" Dana cried-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| "I've an engagement there inside." | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| The Saint arose and scratched his head. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| "I recollect your face," he said. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| "(And, pardon me, 't is rather hard), | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| But----" Dana handed him a card. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "Ah, yes, I now remember--bless | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| My soul, how dull I am I--yes, yes, | 9 | ········· |
| "We've nothing better here than bliss. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Walk in. But I must tell you this: | 8 | ········ |
| "We've rest and comfort, though, and peace." | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "H'm--puddles," Dana said, "for geese. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "Have you in Heaven no Hell?" "Why, no," | 8 | ···/···· |
| Said Peter, "nor, in truth, below. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "'T is not included in our scheme-- | 9 | ···˘/˘·/· |
| 'T is but a preacher's idle dream." | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| The great man slowly moved away. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| "I'll call," he said, "another day. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| "On earth I played it, o'er and o'er, | 8 | ········ |
| And Heaven without it were a bore." | 8 | ·/······ |
| "O, stuff!--come in. You'll make," said Pete, | 8 | ········ |
| "A hell where'er you set your feet." | 9 | ··˘˘/···· |
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.