Political Economy
"I beg you to note," said a Man to a Goose,As he plucked from her bosom the plumage all loose,"That pillows and cushions of feathers and bedsAs warm as maids' hearts and as soft as their heads,Increase of life's comforts the general sum--Which raises the standard of living." "Come, come,"The Goose said, impatiently, "tell me or cease,How that is of any advantage to geese.""What, what!" said the man--"you are very obtuse!Consumption no profit to those who produce?No good to accrue to Supply from a grandProgressive expansion, all round, of Demand?Luxurious habits no benefit bringTo those who purvey the luxurious thing?Consider, I pray you, my friend, how the growthOf luxury promises--" "Promises," quothThe sufferer, "what?--to what course is it pledgedTo pay me for being so often defledged?""Accustomed"--this notion the plucker expressedAs he ripped out a handful of down from her breast--"To one kind of luxury, people soon yearnFor others and ever for others in turn;And the man who to-night on your feathers will rest,His mutton or bacon or beef to digest,His hunger to-morrow will wish to assuageBy dining on goose with a dressing of sage."
Words in this poem
- impatiently adv.
- In an impatient manner.
- accrue n.
- Something that accrues; advantage accruing. [F. accrû, OF. acreü, p. p. of accroitre, OF. acroistre to increase; L. ad + crescere to increase. Cf. Accretion, Crew. See Crescent.]
- purvey v. t.
- To furnish or provide, as with a convenience, provisions, or the like. [OE. purveien, porveien, OF. porveeir, porveoir, F. pourvoir, fr. L. providere. See Provide, and cf. Purview.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- sufferer n.
- One who suffers; one who endures or undergoes suffering; one who sustains inconvenience or loss; as, sufferers by poverty or sickness; men are sufferers by fire or by losses at sea.
- plucker n.
- One who, or that which, plucks.
- handful n.
- As much as the hand will grasp or contain. [AS. handfull.]
- yearn v. t.
- To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
- mutton n.
- A sheep. Chapman. [OE. motoun, OF. moton, molton, a sheep, wether, F. mouton, LL. multo, by transposition of l fr. L. mutilus mutilated. See Mutilate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Political Economy 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, Political Economy, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/political-economy.html, id L28077.
Form and metre
Political Economy is 26 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 98%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic 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 AABBCCDDAAEEFFGGHHIIJJIIKK gooseA · looseA · bedsB · headsB · sumC · comeC · ceaseD · geeseD · obtuseA · produceA · grandE · demandE · bringF · thingF · growthG · quothG · pledgedH · defledgedH · expressedI · breastI · yearnJ · turnJ · restI · digestI · assuageK · sageK
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "I beg you to note," said a Man to a Goose, | 11 | ··········· |
| As he plucked from her bosom the plumage all loose, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| "That pillows and cushions of feathers and beds | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| As warm as maids' hearts and as soft as their heads, | 11 | ··········· |
| Increase of life's comforts the general sum-- | 10 | ˘/··/˘·/˘· |
| Which raises the standard of living." "Come, come," | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| The Goose said, impatiently, "tell me or cease, | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| How that is of any advantage to geese." | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘·· |
| "What, what!" said the man--"you are very obtuse! | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| Consumption no profit to those who produce? | 11 | ˘/˘·/˘···/˘ |
| No good to accrue to Supply from a grand | 11 | ···˘/·˘/··· |
| Progressive expansion, all round, of Demand? | 11 | ˘/˘˘/˘···˘/ |
| Luxurious habits no benefit bring | 10 | ˘/˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| To those who purvey the luxurious thing? | 10 | ···˘/·˘/˘· |
| Consider, I pray you, my friend, how the growth | 11 | ˘/˘········ |
| Of luxury promises--" "Promises," quoth | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘˘· |
| The sufferer, "what?--to what course is it pledged | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To pay me for being so often defledged?" | 10 | ····/·/˘·· |
| "Accustomed"--this notion the plucker expressed | 11 | ˘/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| As he ripped out a handful of down from her breast-- | 12 | ·····/······ |
| "To one kind of luxury, people soon yearn | 10 | ····/˘/˘·· |
| For others and ever for others in turn; | 10 | ·/˘·/·/˘·· |
| And the man who to-night on your feathers will rest, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| His mutton or bacon or beef to digest, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| His hunger to-morrow will wish to assuage | 11 | ·/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| By dining on goose with a dressing of sage." | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
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