The Aesthetes
The lily cranks, the lily cranks,The loppy, loony lasses!They multiply in rising ranksTo execute their solemn pranks,They moon along in masses.Blow, sweet lily, in the shade! O,Sunflower decorate the dado!
The maiden ass, the maiden ass,The tall and tailless jenny!In limp attire as green as grass,She stands, a monumental brass,The one of one too many.Blow, sweet lily, in the shade! O,Sunflower decorate the dado!
Words in this poem
- loppy a.
- Somewhat lop; inclined to lop.
- jenny n.
- A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
- monumental a.
- Of, pertaining to, or suitable for, a monument; as, a monumental inscription. [L. monumentalis: cf. F. monumental.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Aesthetes 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, The Aesthetes, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-aesthetes.html, id L28101.
Form and metre
The Aesthetes is 14 lines in 2 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 ABAABCC cranksA · lassesB · ranksA · pranksA · massesB · oC · dadoC
- 2 ABAABCC assA · jennyB · grassA · brassA · manyB · oC · dadoC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The lily cranks, the lily cranks, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The loppy, loony lasses! | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| They multiply in rising ranks | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To execute their solemn pranks, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| They moon along in masses. | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Blow, sweet lily, in the shade! O, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Sunflower decorate the dado! | 8 | /˘/˘··/· |
| The maiden ass, the maiden ass, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The tall and tailless jenny! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| In limp attire as green as grass, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| She stands, a monumental brass, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The one of one too many. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Blow, sweet lily, in the shade! O, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Sunflower decorate the dado! | 8 | /˘/˘··/· |
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.