One Mood's Expression
See, Lord, fanatics all arrayedFor revolution!To foil their villainous crusadeUnsheathe again the sacred bladeOf persecution.
What though through long disuse 't is grownA trifle rusty?'Gainst modern heresy, whose boneIs rotten, and the flesh fly-blown,It still is trusty.
Of sterner stuff thine ancient foes,Unapprehensive,Sprang forth to meet thy biting blows;Our zealots chiefly to the noseAssume the offensive.
Then wield the blade their necks to hack,Nor ever spare one.Thy crowns of martyrdom unpack,But see that every martyr lackThe head to wear one.
Words in this poem
- unsheathe v. t.
- To deprive of a sheath; to draw from the sheath or scabbard, as a sword. To unsheathe the sword, to make war. [1st pref. un- + sheath.]
- sterner n.
- A director. Dr. R. Clerke. [See 3d Stern.]
- wield v. t.
- To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess. [OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan, gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten, OHG. waltan, Icel. val]
- martyrdom n.
- The condition of a martyr; the death of a martyr; the suffering of death on account of adherence to the Christian faith, or to any cause. [Martyr + -dom.]
- unpack v. t.
- To separate and remove, as things packed; to open and remove the contents of; as, to unpack a trunk. [1st pref. un- + pack.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
One Mood's Expression 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, One Mood's Expression, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/one-moods-expression.html, id L28194.
Form and metre
One Mood's Expression is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic 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 ABAAB arrayedA · revolutionB · crusadeA · bladeA · persecutionB
- 2 ABAAB grownA · rustyB · boneA · blownA · trustyB
- 3 ABAAB foesA · unapprehensiveB · blowsA · noseA · offensiveB
- 4 ABAAB hackA · oneB · unpackA · lackA · oneB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| See, Lord, fanatics all arrayed | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| For revolution! | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| To foil their villainous crusade | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Unsheathe again the sacred blade | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘· |
| Of persecution. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| What though through long disuse 't is grown | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| A trifle rusty? | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| 'Gainst modern heresy, whose bone | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Is rotten, and the flesh fly-blown, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It still is trusty. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Of sterner stuff thine ancient foes, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Unapprehensive, | 5 | ····· |
| Sprang forth to meet thy biting blows; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Our zealots chiefly to the nose | 8 | //˘/˘··· |
| Assume the offensive. | 6 | ˘/·˘/˘ |
| Then wield the blade their necks to hack, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor ever spare one. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Thy crowns of martyrdom unpack, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| But see that every martyr lack | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The head to wear one. | 5 | ····· |
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.