Justice
Jack Doe met Dick Roe, whose wife he loved,And said: "I will get the best of him."So pulling a knife from his boot, he shovedIt up to the hilt in the breast of him.
Then he moved that weapon forth and back,Enlarging the hole he had made with it,Till the smoking liver fell out, and JackMerrily, merrily played with it.
Then he reached within and he seized the slackOf the lesser bowel, and, travelingHither and thither, looked idly backOn that small intestine, raveling.
The wretched Richard, with many a grinLaid on with exceeding suavity,Curled up and died, and they ran John inAnd charged him with sins of gravity.
The case was tried and a verdict found:The jury, with great humanity,Acquitted the prisoner on the groundOf extemporary insanity.
Words in this poem
- bowel n.
- One of the intestines of an animal; an entrail, especially of man; a gut; -- generally used in the plural. [OE. bouel, bouele, OF. boel, boele, F. boyau, fr. L. botellus a small sausage, in LL. also intestine, dim. of L. botulus sausage.]
- raveling n.
- The act of untwisting, or of disentangling. [Also ravelling.]
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
- suavity n.
- Sweetness to the taste. Sir T. Browne. [L. suavitas: cf. F. suavité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Justice 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, Justice, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/justice.html, id L28043.
Form and metre
Justice is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%).
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 ABAB lovedA · himB · shovedA · himB
- 2 ABAB backA · itB · jackA · itB
- 3 ABAB slackA · travelingB · backA · ravelingB
- 4 ABAB grinA · suavityB · inA · gravityB
- 5 ABAB foundA · humanityB · groundA · insanityB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jack Doe met Dick Roe, whose wife he loved, | 10 | ·········˘ |
| And said: "I will get the best of him." | 9 | ········· |
| So pulling a knife from his boot, he shoved | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| It up to the hilt in the breast of him. | 10 | ·········· |
| Then he moved that weapon forth and back, | 10 | ···˘·/˘··· |
| Enlarging the hole he had made with it, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Till the smoking liver fell out, and Jack | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| Merrily, merrily played with it. | 10 | /˘˘/˘˘·˘·· |
| Then he reached within and he seized the slack | 10 | ·········· |
| Of the lesser bowel, and, traveling | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| Hither and thither, looked idly back | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| On that small intestine, raveling. | 9 | ···˘/˘/˘˘ |
| The wretched Richard, with many a grin | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Laid on with exceeding suavity, | 9 | ···˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Curled up and died, and they ran John in | 10 | ·˘········ |
| And charged him with sins of gravity. | 10 | ··˘····/˘˘ |
| The case was tried and a verdict found: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The jury, with great humanity, | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| Acquitted the prisoner on the ground | 10 | ˘/˘·/˘˘··· |
| Of extemporary insanity. | 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.