Genesis
God said: "Let there be Man," and from the clayAdam came forth and, thoughtful, walked away.The matrix whence his body was obtained,An empty, man-shaped cavity, remainedAll unregarded from that early timeTill in a recent storm it filled with slime.Now Satan, envying the Master's powerTo make the meat himself could but devour,Strolled to the place and, standing by the pool,Exerted all his will to make a fool.A miracle!--from out that ancient holeRose Morehouse, lacking nothing but a soul."To give him that I've not the power divine,"Said Satan, sadly, "but I'll lend him mine."He breathed it into him, a vapor black,And to this day has never got it back.
Words in this poem
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Genesis 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, Genesis, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/genesis.html, id L28063.
Form and metre
Genesis is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH clayA · awayA · obtainedB · remainedB · timeC · slimeC · powerD · devourD · poolE · foolE · holeF · soulF · divineG · mineG · blackH · backH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| God said: "Let there be Man," and from the clay | 10 | ·········· |
| Adam came forth and, thoughtful, walked away. | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| The matrix whence his body was obtained, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| An empty, man-shaped cavity, remained | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| All unregarded from that early time | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Till in a recent storm it filled with slime. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Now Satan, envying the Master's power | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| To make the meat himself could but devour, | 11 | ····˘/··˘/˘ |
| Strolled to the place and, standing by the pool, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Exerted all his will to make a fool. | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| A miracle!--from out that ancient hole | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Rose Morehouse, lacking nothing but a soul. | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘··· |
| "To give him that I've not the power divine," | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| Said Satan, sadly, "but I'll lend him mine." | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| He breathed it into him, a vapor black, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And to this day has never got it back. | 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.