Discretion
SHE:
I'm told that men have sometimes gotToo confidential, andHave said to one another whatThey--well, you understand.I hope I don't offend you, sweet,But are you sure that you're discreet?
HE:
'Tis true, sometimes my friends in wineTheir conquests do recall,But none can truly say that mineAre known to him at all.I never, never talk you o'er--In truth, I never get the floor.
Words in this poem
- confidential a.
- Enjoying, or treated with, confidence; trusted in; trustworthy; as, a confidential servant or clerk. [Cf. F. confidentiel.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Discretion 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, Discretion, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/discretion.html, id L28124.
Form and metre
Discretion is 14 lines in 4 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.
- 2 -A-ABB got · andA · what · understandA · sweetB · discreetB
- 4 ABAB-- wineA · recallB · mineA · allB · o'er · floor
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SHE: | 1 | · |
| I'm told that men have sometimes got | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Too confidential, and | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Have said to one another what | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| They--well, you understand. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I hope I don't offend you, sweet, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But are you sure that you're discreet? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| HE: | 1 | · |
| 'Tis true, sometimes my friends in wine | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Their conquests do recall, | 6 | ·/··˘/ |
| But none can truly say that mine | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Are known to him at all. | 6 | ······ |
| I never, never talk you o'er-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In truth, I never get the floor. | 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.