In Defense
You may say, if you please, Johnny Bull, that our girlsAre crazy to marry your dukes and your earls;But I've heard that the maids of your own little isleGreet bachelor lords with a favoring smile.
Nay, titles, 'tis said in defense of our fair,Are popular here because popular there;And for them our ladies persistently goBecause 'tis exceedingly English, you know.
Whatever the motive, you'll have to confessThe effort's attended with easy success;And--pardon the freedom--'tis thought, over here,'Tis mortification you mask with a sneer.
It's all very well, sir, your scorn to paradeOf the high nasal twang of the Yankee maid,But, ah, to my lord when he dares to proposeNo sound is so sweet as that "Yes" from the nose.
Our ladies, we grant, walk alone in the street(Observe, by-the-by, on what delicate feet!)'Tis a habit they got here at home, where they sayThe men from politeness go seldom astray.
Ah, well, if the dukes and the earls and that lotCan stand it (God succor them if they cannot!)Your commoners ought to assent, I am sure,And what they 're not called on to suffer, endure.
"'Tis nothing but money?" "Your nobles are bought?"As to that, I submit, it is commonly thoughtThat England's a country not specially freeOf Croesi and (if you'll allow it) Croesae.
You've many a widow and many a girlWith money to purchase a duke or an earl.'Tis a very remarkable thing, you'll agree,When goods import buyers from over the sea.
Alas for the woman of Albion's isle!She may simper; as well as she can she may smile;She may wear pantalettes and an air of repose--But my lord of the future will talk through his nose.
Words in this poem
- johnny n.
- A familiar diminutive of John.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- propose v. i.
- To speak; to converse.
- politeness n.
- High finish; smoothness; burnished elegance. Evelyn.
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- simper v. i.
- To smile in a silly, affected, or conceited manner. [Cf. Norw. semper fine, smart, dial. Dan. semper, simper, affected, coy, prudish, OSw. semper one who affectedly refrains from eating, Sw. sipp finical, prim, LG]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Defense 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, In Defense, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/in-defense.html, id L27982.
Form and metre
In Defense is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AABB girlsA · earlsA · isleB · smileB
- 2 AABB fairA · thereA · goB · knowB
- 3 AABB confessA · successA · hereB · sneerB
- 4 AABB paradeA · maidA · proposeB · noseB
- 5 AABB streetA · feetA · sayB · astrayB
- 6 AABB lotA · cannotA · sureB · endureB
- 7 AABB boughtA · thoughtA · freeB · croesaeB
- 8 AABB girlA · earlA · agreeB · seaB
- 9 AABB isleA · smileA · reposeB · noseB
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| You may say, if you please, Johnny Bull, that our girls | 12 | ······/˘··/· |
| Are crazy to marry your dukes and your earls; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| But I've heard that the maids of your own little isle | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Greet bachelor lords with a favoring smile. | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘· |
| Nay, titles, 'tis said in defense of our fair, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/·/· |
| Are popular here because popular there; | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘· |
| And for them our ladies persistently go | 10 | ···//˘˘/˘· |
| Because 'tis exceedingly English, you know. | 10 | ···˘/˘/˘·· |
| Whatever the motive, you'll have to confess | 11 | ·/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| The effort's attended with easy success; | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| And--pardon the freedom--'tis thought, over here, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| 'Tis mortification you mask with a sneer. | 11 | ··········· |
| It's all very well, sir, your scorn to parade | 11 | ··/˘·····˘/ |
| Of the high nasal twang of the Yankee maid, | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| But, ah, to my lord when he dares to propose | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| No sound is so sweet as that "Yes" from the nose. | 11 | ··········· |
| Our ladies, we grant, walk alone in the street | 11 | //˘···˘/··· |
| (Observe, by-the-by, on what delicate feet!) | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| 'Tis a habit they got here at home, where they say | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| The men from politeness go seldom astray. | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Ah, well, if the dukes and the earls and that lot | 11 | ··········· |
| Can stand it (God succor them if they cannot!) | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| Your commoners ought to assent, I am sure, | 10 | ·/˘··˘/··· |
| And what they 're not called on to suffer, endure. | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| "'Tis nothing but money?" "Your nobles are bought?" | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| As to that, I submit, it is commonly thought | 11 | ····˘/··/˘· |
| That England's a country not specially free | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Of Croesi and (if you'll allow it) Croesae. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| You've many a widow and many a girl | 10 | ·/·/˘·/˘·· |
| With money to purchase a duke or an earl. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| 'Tis a very remarkable thing, you'll agree, | 11 | ··/˘˘/˘··˘/ |
| When goods import buyers from over the sea. | 10 | ··/˘/····· |
| Alas for the woman of Albion's isle! | 10 | ˘/··/˘·/˘· |
| She may simper; as well as she can she may smile; | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| She may wear pantalettes and an air of repose-- | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| But my lord of the future will talk through his nose. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
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