Convalescent
What! "Out of danger?" Can the slighted DameOr canting Pharisee no more defame?Will Treachery caress my hand no more,Nor Hatred He alurk about my door?--Ingratitude, with benefits dismissed,Not close the loaded palm to make a fist?Will Envy henceforth not retaliateFor virtues it were vain to emulate?Will Ignorance my knowledge fail to scout,Not understanding what 'tis all about,Yet feeling in its light so mean and smallThat all his little soul is turned to gall?
What! "Out of danger?" Jealousy disarmed?Greed from exaction magically charmed?Ambition stayed from trampling whom it meets,Like horses fugitive in crowded streets?The Bigot, with his candle, book and bell,Tongue-tied, unlunged and paralyzed as well?The Critic righteously to justice haled,His own ear to the post securely nailed--What most he dreads unable to inflict,And powerless to hawk the faults he's picked?The liar choked upon his choicest lie,And impotent alike to villifyOr flatter for the gold of thrifty menWho hate his person but employ his pen--Who love and loathe, respectively, the dirtBelonging to his character and shirt?
What! "Out of danger?"--Nature's minions all,Like hounds returning to the huntsman's call,Obedient to the unwelcome noteThat stays them from the quarry's bursting throat?--Famine and Pestilence and Earthquake dire,Torrent and Tempest, Lightning, Frost and Fire,The soulless Tiger and the mindless Snake,The noxious Insect from the stagnant lake(Automaton malevolences wroughtOut of the substance of Creative Thought)--These from their immemorial prey restrained,Their fury baffled and their power chained?
I'm safe? Is that what the physician said?What! "Out of danger?" Then, by Heaven, I'm dead!
Words in this poem 19
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- canting a.
- Speaking in a whining tone of voice; using technical or religious terms affectedly; affectedly pious; as, a canting rogue; a canting tone. - Cant"ing*ly, adv.
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- ingratitude n.
- Want of gratitude; insensibility to, forgetfulness of, or ill return for, kindness or favors received; unthankfulness; ungratefulness. [F. ingratitude, L. ingratitudo. See Ingrate.]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- retaliate v. t.
- To return the like for; to repay or requite by an act of the same kind; to return evil for (evil). [Now seldom used except in a bad sense.] [L. retaliatus, p. p. of retaliare to retaliate; pref. re- re- + a word akin to talio talion, retaliation. Cf. Talion.]
- disarmed a.
- Deprived of arms.
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- magically adv.
- In a magical manner; by magic, or as if by magic.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- bigot n.
- A hypocrite; esp., a superstitious hypocrite. [F. bigot a bigot or hypocrite, a name once given to the Normans in France. Of unknown origin; possibly akin to Sp. bigote a whisker; hombre de bigote a man of s]
- righteously adv.
- In a righteous manner; as, to judge righteously. [AS. rightwislice.]
- liar n.
- A person who knowingly utters falsehood; one who lies. [OE. liere. See Lie to falsify.]
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- soulless a.
- Being without a soul, or without greatness or nobleness of mind; mean; spiritless.
- mindless a.
- Not indued with mind or intellectual powers; stupid; unthinking.
- automaton n.
- Any thing or being regarded as having the power of spontaneous motion or action. Huxley. [L. fr. Gr. ma, man, to strive, think, cf. Mean, v. i.]
- immemorial a.
- Extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition; indefinitely ancient; as, existing from time immemorial. [Pref. im- not + memorial: cf. F. immémorial.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Convalescent 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, Convalescent, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/convalescent-1.html, id L27974.
Form and metre
Convalescent is 42 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDDEEFF, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDDEEFF dameA · defameA · moreB · doorB · dismissedC · fistC · retaliateD · emulateD · scoutE · aboutE · smallF · gallF
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH disarmedA · charmedA · meetsB · streetsB · bellC · wellC · haledD · nailedD · inflictE · pickedE · lieF · villifyF · menG · penG · dirtH · shirtH
- 3 AABBCCDDEEFF allA · callA · noteB · throatB · direC · fireC · snakeD · lakeD · wroughtE · thoughtE · restrainedF · chainedF
- 4 AA saidA · deadA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| What! "Out of danger?" Can the slighted Dame | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Or canting Pharisee no more defame? | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| Will Treachery caress my hand no more, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| Nor Hatred He alurk about my door?-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Ingratitude, with benefits dismissed, | 10 | ˘/˘˘·/˘˘˘/ |
| Not close the loaded palm to make a fist? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Will Envy henceforth not retaliate | 10 | ·/˘//·˘/˘· |
| For virtues it were vain to emulate? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Will Ignorance my knowledge fail to scout, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Not understanding what 'tis all about, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Yet feeling in its light so mean and small | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That all his little soul is turned to gall? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| What! "Out of danger?" Jealousy disarmed? | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Greed from exaction magically charmed? | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘˘· |
| Ambition stayed from trampling whom it meets, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Like horses fugitive in crowded streets? | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| The Bigot, with his candle, book and bell, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Tongue-tied, unlunged and paralyzed as well? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The Critic righteously to justice haled, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| His own ear to the post securely nailed-- | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| What most he dreads unable to inflict, | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| And powerless to hawk the faults he's picked? | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| The liar choked upon his choicest lie, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And impotent alike to villify | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| Or flatter for the gold of thrifty men | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Who hate his person but employ his pen-- | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Who love and loathe, respectively, the dirt | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Belonging to his character and shirt? | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘˘·· |
| What! "Out of danger?"--Nature's minions all, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Like hounds returning to the huntsman's call, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Obedient to the unwelcome note | 10 | ˘/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| That stays them from the quarry's bursting throat?-- | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Famine and Pestilence and Earthquake dire, | 10 | /˘·/˘˘·/·· |
| Torrent and Tempest, Lightning, Frost and Fire, | 11 | /˘·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| The soulless Tiger and the mindless Snake, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The noxious Insect from the stagnant lake | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| (Automaton malevolences wrought | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Out of the substance of Creative Thought)-- | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| These from their immemorial prey restrained, | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Their fury baffled and their power chained? | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| I'm safe? Is that what the physician said? | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| What! "Out of danger?" Then, by Heaven, I'm dead! | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
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.