My Monument
It is pleasant to think, as I'm watching my inkA-drying along my paper,That a monument fine will surely be mineWhen death has extinguished my taper.
From each rhyming scribe of the journalist tribePurged clean of all sentiments narrow,A pebble will mark his respect for the starkStiff body that's under the barrow.
By fellow-bards thrown, thus stone upon stoneWill make my celebrity deathless.O, I wish I could think, as I gaze at my ink,They'd wait till my carcass is breathless.
Words in this poem
- scribe n.
- One who writes; a draughtsman; a writer for another; especially, an offical or public writer; an amanuensis or secretary; a notary; a copyist. [L. scriba, fr. scribere to write; cf. Gr. scarify. Cf. Ascribe, Describe, Script, Scrivener, Scrutoire.]
- journalist n.
- One who keeps a journal or diary. Mickle. [Cf. F. journaliste.]
- stark adv.
- Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind.
- celebrity n.
- Celebration; solemnization. [L. celebritas: cf. F. célébrité.]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- carcass n.
- A dead body, whether of man or beast; a corpse; now commonly the dead body of a beast. [F. carcasse, fr. It. carcassa, fr. L. caro flesh + capsa chest, box, case. Cf. Carnal, Case a sheath.]
- breathless a.
- Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
My Monument 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, My Monument, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/my-monument.html, id L27995.
Form and metre
My Monument is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is anapaestic common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in anapaestic common measure.
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 -A-A ink · paperA · mine · taperA
- 2 -A-A tribe · narrowA · stark · barrowA
- 3 -A-A stone · deathlessA · ink · breathlessA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It is pleasant to think, as I'm watching my ink | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| A-drying along my paper, | 8 | ·/˘˘/·/˘ |
| That a monument fine will surely be mine | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| When death has extinguished my taper. | 9 | ···˘/˘·/˘ |
| From each rhyming scribe of the journalist tribe | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Purged clean of all sentiments narrow, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| A pebble will mark his respect for the stark | 11 | ·/˘···˘/··· |
| Stiff body that's under the barrow. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| By fellow-bards thrown, thus stone upon stone | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Will make my celebrity deathless. | 9 | ···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| O, I wish I could think, as I gaze at my ink, | 12 | ············ |
| They'd wait till my carcass is breathless. | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
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.