Technology
'Twas a serious person with locks of grayAnd a figure like a crescent;His gravity, clearly, had come to stay,But his smile was evanescent.
He stood and conversed with a neighbor, andWith (likewise) a high falsetto;And he stabbed his forefinger into his handAs if it had been a stiletto.
His words, like the notes of a tenor drum,Came out of his head unblended,And the wonderful altitude of someWas exceptionally splendid.
While executing a shake of the head,With the hand, as it were, of a master,This agonizing old gentleman said:"'Twas a truly sad disaster!
"Four hundred and ten longs and shorts in all,Went down"--he paused and snuffled.A single tear was observed to fall,And the old man's drum was muffled.
"A very calamitous year," he said.And again his head-piece hoaryHe shook, and another pearl he shed,As if he wept con amore.
"O lacrymose person," I cried, "pray whyShould these failures so affect you?With speculators in stocks no eyeThat's normal would ever connect you."
He focused his orbs upon mine and smiledIn a sinister sort of manner."Young man," he said, "your words are wild:I spoke of the steamship 'Hanner.'
"For she has went down in a howlin' squall,And my heart is nigh to breakin'--Four hundred and ten longs and shorts in allWill never need undertakin'!
"I'm in the business myself," said he,"And you've mistook my expression;For I uses the technical terms, you see,Employed in my perfession."
That old undertaker has joined the throngOn the other side of the River,But I'm still unhappy to think I'm a "long,"And a tape-line makes me shiver.
Words in this poem
- evanescent a.
- Liable to vanish or pass away like vapor; vanishing; fleeting; as, evanescent joys. [L. evanescens, -entis, p. pr. of evanescere.]
- falsetto n.
- A false or artificial voice; that voice in a man which lies above his natural voice; the male counter tenor or alto voice. See Head voice, under Voice. [It. falsetto, dim. fr. L. falsus. See False.]
- forefinger n.
- The finger next to the thumb; the index.
- disaster n.
- An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body; hence, an ill portent. [F. désastre; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See Aster, Astral, Star.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- calamitous a.
- Suffering calamity; wretched; miserable. [L. Calamitosus; cf. F. calamiteux.]
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- steamship n.
- A ship or seagoing vessel propelled by the power of steam; a steamer.
- undertaker n.
- One who undertakes; one who engages in any project or business.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Technology 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, Technology, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/technology.html, id L28022.
Form and metre
Technology is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
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 ABAB grayA · crescentB · stayA · evanescentB
- 2 ABAB andA · falsettoB · handA · stilettoB
- 3 ABAB drumA · unblendedB · someA · splendidB
- 4 ABAB headA · masterB · saidA · disasterB
- 5 ABAB allA · snuffledB · fallA · muffledB
- 6 A-A- saidA · hoary · shedA · amore
- 7 ABAB whyA · youB · eyeA · youB
- 8 ABAB smiledA · mannerB · wildA · hannerB
- 9 ABAB squallA · breakinB · allA · undertakinB
- 10 ABAB heA · expressionB · seeA · perfessionB
- 11 ABAB throngA · riverB · longA · shiverB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Twas a serious person with locks of gray | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| And a figure like a crescent; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| His gravity, clearly, had come to stay, | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘···· |
| But his smile was evanescent. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| He stood and conversed with a neighbor, and | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| With (likewise) a high falsetto; | 8 | ·/···˘/· |
| And he stabbed his forefinger into his hand | 11 | ····/·˘···· |
| As if it had been a stiletto. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| His words, like the notes of a tenor drum, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Came out of his head unblended, | 8 | ········ |
| And the wonderful altitude of some | 10 | ··/˘˘/˘··· |
| Was exceptionally splendid. | 8 | ·˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| While executing a shake of the head, | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| With the hand, as it were, of a master, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| This agonizing old gentleman said: | 10 | ·/˘˘˘·/˘˘· |
| "'Twas a truly sad disaster! | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| "Four hundred and ten longs and shorts in all, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Went down"--he paused and snuffled. | 6 | ······ |
| A single tear was observed to fall, | 9 | ·/˘··˘/·· |
| And the old man's drum was muffled. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| "A very calamitous year," he said. | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘˘··· |
| And again his head-piece hoary | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| He shook, and another pearl he shed, | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| As if he wept con amore. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "O lacrymose person," I cried, "pray why | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Should these failures so affect you? | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| With speculators in stocks no eye | 9 | ·/˘·˘···· |
| That's normal would ever connect you." | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/· |
| He focused his orbs upon mine and smiled | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In a sinister sort of manner. | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| "Young man," he said, "your words are wild: | 8 | ········ |
| I spoke of the steamship 'Hanner.' | 8 | ····/·/˘ |
| "For she has went down in a howlin' squall, | 10 | ·········· |
| And my heart is nigh to breakin'-- | 8 | ········ |
| Four hundred and ten longs and shorts in all | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Will never need undertakin'! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "I'm in the business myself," said he, | 9 | ···/˘·/·· |
| "And you've mistook my expression; | 8 | ··˘/·˘/˘ |
| For I uses the technical terms, you see, | 10 | ··/˘·/˘··· |
| Employed in my perfession." | 7 | ˘/····· |
| That old undertaker has joined the throng | 10 | ··/˘·˘···· |
| On the other side of the River, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| But I'm still unhappy to think I'm a "long," | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| And a tape-line makes me shiver. | 8 | ······/˘ |
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