Industrial Discontent
As time rolled on the whole world came to beA desolation and a darksome curse;And some one said: "The changes that you seeIn the fair frame of things, from bad to worse,Are wrought by strikes. The sun withdrew his glimmerBecause the moon assisted with her shimmer.
"Then, when poor Luna, straining very hard,Doubled her light to serve a darkling world,He called her 'scab,' and meanly would retardHer rising: and at last the villain hurledA heavy beam which knocked her o'er the LionInto the nebula of great O'Ryan.
"The planets all had struck some time before,Demanding what they said were equal rights:Some pointing out that others had far moreThat a fair dividend of satellites.So all went out--though those the best provided,If they had dared, would rather have abided.
"The stars struck too--I think it was becauseThe comets had more liberty than they,And were not bound by any hampering laws,While they were fixed; and there are those who sayThe comets' tresses nettled poor Altair,An aged orb that hasn't any hair.
"The earth's the only one that isn't inThe movement--I suppose because she's watchedWith horror and disgust how her fair skinHer pranking parasites have fouled and blotchedWith blood and grease in every labor riot,When seeing any purse or throat to fly at."
Words in this poem
- desolation n.
- The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation. [F. désolation, L. desolatio.]
- darksome a.
- Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
- shimmer v. i.
- To shine with a tremulous or intermittent light; to shine faintly; to gleam; to glisten; to glimmer. [OE. schimeren, AS. scimerian; akin to scimian, sciman, to glitter, D. schemeren, G. schimmern, Dan. skimre, Sw. skimra, AS. scima a light, brightness, Icel. ski]
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- nebula n.
- A faint, cloudlike, self-luminous mass of matter situated beyond the solar system among the stars. True nebulæ are gaseous; but very distant star clusters often appear like them in the telescope. [L., mist, cloud; akin to Gr. nebel mist, OHG. nebul, D. nevel, Skr. nabhas cloud, mist. Cf. Nebule.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- blotched a.
- Marked or covered with blotches.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Industrial Discontent 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, Industrial Discontent, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/industrial-discontent.html, id L28080.
Form and metre
Industrial Discontent is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. 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 ABABCC beA · curseB · seeA · worseB · glimmerC · shimmerC
- 2 ABABCC hardA · worldB · retardA · hurledB · lionC · o'ryanC
- 3 ABABCC beforeA · rightsB · moreA · satellitesB · providedC · abidedC
- 4 ABABCC becauseA · theyB · lawsA · sayB · altairC · hairC
- 5 ABABCC inA · watchedB · skinA · blotchedB · riotC · atC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As time rolled on the whole world came to be | 10 | ·········· |
| A desolation and a darksome curse; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And some one said: "The changes that you see | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In the fair frame of things, from bad to worse, | 10 | ·········· |
| Are wrought by strikes. The sun withdrew his glimmer | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| Because the moon assisted with her shimmer. | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| "Then, when poor Luna, straining very hard, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Doubled her light to serve a darkling world, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| He called her 'scab,' and meanly would retard | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Her rising: and at last the villain hurled | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A heavy beam which knocked her o'er the Lion | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Into the nebula of great O'Ryan. | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| "The planets all had struck some time before, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Demanding what they said were equal rights: | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Some pointing out that others had far more | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| That a fair dividend of satellites. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| So all went out--though those the best provided, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| If they had dared, would rather have abided. | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| "The stars struck too--I think it was because | 10 | ·········· |
| The comets had more liberty than they, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| And were not bound by any hampering laws, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| While they were fixed; and there are those who say | 10 | ·········· |
| The comets' tresses nettled poor Altair, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| An aged orb that hasn't any hair. | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| "The earth's the only one that isn't in | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The movement--I suppose because she's watched | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| With horror and disgust how her fair skin | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Her pranking parasites have fouled and blotched | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| With blood and grease in every labor riot, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| When seeing any purse or throat to fly at." | 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.