Laus Lucis
Each to his taste: some men prefer to playAt mystery, as others at piquet.Some sit in mystic meditation; someParade the street with tambourine and drum.One studies to decipher ancient loreWhich, proving stuff, he studies all the more;Another swears that learning is but goodTo darken things already understood,Then writes upon Simplicity so wellThat none agree on what he wants to tell,And future ages will declare his penInspired by gods with messages to men.To found an ancient order those devoteTheir time--with ritual, regalia, goat,Blankets for tossing, chairs of little easeAnd all the modern inconveniences;These, saner, frown upon unmeaning ritesAnd go to church for rational delights.So all are suited, shallow and profound,The prophets prosper and the world goes round.For me--unread in the occult, I'm fainTo damn all mysteries alike as vain,Spurn the obscure and base my faith uponThe Revelations of the good St. John.
Words in this poem
- decipher v. t.
- To translate from secret characters or ciphers into intelligible terms; as, to decipher a letter written in secret characters. [Pref. de- + cipher. Formed in imitation of F. déchiffrer. See Cipher.]
- regalia n.
- That which belongs to royalty. Specifically: (a) The rights and prerogatives of a king. (b) Royal estates and revenues. (c) Ensings, symbols, or paraphernalia of royalty. [LL., from L. regalisregal. See Regal.]
- prosper v. t.
- To favor; to render successful. [F. prospérer v. i., or L. prosperare, v. i., or L. prosperare, v. t., fr. prosper or prosperus. See Prosperous.]
- unread a.
- Not read or perused; as, an unread book. Hooker.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- damn v. t.
- To condemn; to declare guilty; to doom; to adjudge to punishment; to sentence; to censhure. [OE. damnen dap), OF. damner, dampner, F. damner, fr. L. damnare, damnatum, to condemn, fr. damnum damage, a fine, penalty. Cf. Condemn, Damage.]
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Laus Lucis 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, Laus Lucis, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/laus-lucis.html, id L28020.
Form and metre
Laus Lucis is 24 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 91%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLL playA · piquetA · someB · drumB · loreC · moreC · goodD · understoodD · wellE · tellE · penF · menF · devoteG · goatG · easeH · inconveniencesH · ritesI · delightsI · profoundJ · roundJ · fainK · vainK · uponL · johnL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Each to his taste: some men prefer to play | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| At mystery, as others at piquet. | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Some sit in mystic meditation; some | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Parade the street with tambourine and drum. | 10 | ˘/····˘/·· |
| One studies to decipher ancient lore | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| Which, proving stuff, he studies all the more; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Another swears that learning is but good | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| To darken things already understood, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Then writes upon Simplicity so well | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| That none agree on what he wants to tell, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| And future ages will declare his pen | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Inspired by gods with messages to men. | 10 | ˘/···/˘˘·· |
| To found an ancient order those devote | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Their time--with ritual, regalia, goat, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Blankets for tossing, chairs of little ease | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| And all the modern inconveniences; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| These, saner, frown upon unmeaning rites | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| And go to church for rational delights. | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| So all are suited, shallow and profound, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The prophets prosper and the world goes round. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| For me--unread in the occult, I'm fain | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| To damn all mysteries alike as vain, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| Spurn the obscure and base my faith upon | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The Revelations of the good St. John. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
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