Philosopher Bimm
Republicans think Jonas BimmA Democrat gone mad,And Democrats consider himRepublican and bad.
The Tough reviles him as a DudeAnd gives it him right hot;The Dude condemns his crassitudeAnd calls him sans culottes.
Derided as an AnglophileBy Anglophobes, forsooth,As Anglophobe he feels, the while,The Anglophilic tooth.
The Churchman calls him Atheist;The Atheists, rough-shod,Have ridden o'er him long and hissed"The wretch believes in God!"
The Saints whom clergymen we callWould kill him if they could;The Sinners (scientists and all)Complain that he is good.
All men deplore the differenceBetween themselves and him,And all devise expedientsFor paining Jonas Bimm.
I too, with wild demoniac glee,Would put out both his eyes;For Mr. Bimm appears to meInsufferably wise!
Words in this poem
- democrat n.
- One who is an adherent or advocate of democracy, or government by the people. [Cf. F. démocrate.]
- dude n.
- A kind of dandy; especially, one characterized by an ultrafashionable style of dress and other affectations.
- crassitude n.
- Crossness; coarseness; thickness; density. [L. crassitudo.]
- sans prep.
- Without; deprived or destitute of. Rarely used as an English word. [F., from L. sine without.]
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- atheist n.
- One who disbelieves or denies the existence of a God, or supreme intelligent Being. [Gr. athéiste.]
- deplore v. t.
- To feel or to express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over. [L. deplorare; de- + plorare to cry out, wail, lament; prob. akin to pluere to rain, and to E. flow: cf. F. déplorer. Cf. Flow.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- insufferably adv.
- In a manner or to a degree beyond endurance; intolerably; as, a blaze insufferably bright; a person insufferably proud.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Philosopher Bimm 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, Philosopher Bimm, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/philosopher-bimm.html, id L28053.
Form and metre
Philosopher Bimm is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in 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 ABAB bimmA · madB · himA · badB
- 3 ABAB anglophileA · forsoothB · whileA · toothB
- 4 ABAB atheistA · shodB · hissedA · godB
- 5 ABAB callA · couldB · allA · goodB
- 6 ABAB differenceA · himB · expedientsA · bimmB
- 7 ABAB gleeA · eyesB · meA · wiseB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Republicans think Jonas Bimm | 8 | ˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| A Democrat gone mad, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And Democrats consider him | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Republican and bad. | 6 | ˘/˘˘·· |
| The Tough reviles him as a Dude | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And gives it him right hot; | 6 | ······ |
| The Dude condemns his crassitude | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| And calls him sans culottes. | 6 | ······ |
| Derided as an Anglophile | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| By Anglophobes, forsooth, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| As Anglophobe he feels, the while, | 8 | ········ |
| The Anglophilic tooth. | 6 | ······ |
| The Churchman calls him Atheist; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The Atheists, rough-shod, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Have ridden o'er him long and hissed | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "The wretch believes in God!" | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The Saints whom clergymen we call | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Would kill him if they could; | 6 | ······ |
| The Sinners (scientists and all) | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Complain that he is good. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| All men deplore the difference | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| Between themselves and him, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And all devise expedients | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| For paining Jonas Bimm. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| I too, with wild demoniac glee, | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| Would put out both his eyes; | 6 | ······ |
| For Mr. Bimm appears to me | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Insufferably wise! | 6 | ˘/˘˘˘· |
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.