The Brothers
Scene--A lawyer's dreadful den.Enter stall-fed citizen.
LAWYER.--'Mornin'. How-de-do?
CITIZEN.--Sir, same to you.Called as counsel to retain youIn a case that I'll explain you.Sad, so sad! Heart almost broke.Hang it! where's my kerchief? Smoke?Brother, sir, and I, of late,Came into a large estate.Brother's--h'm, ha,--rather queerSometimes (tapping forehead) here.What he needs--you know--a "writ"--Something, eh? that will permitMe to manage, sir, in fine,His estate, as well as mine.'Course he'll kick; 't will break, I fear,His loving heart--excuse this tear.
LAWYER.--Have you nothing more?All of this you said before--When last night I took your case.
CITIZEN.--Why, sir, your faceNe'er before has met my view!
LAWYER.--Eh? The devil! True:My mistake--it was your brother.But you're very like each other.
Words in this poem
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Brothers 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 Brothers, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-brothers.html, id L28039.
Form and metre
The Brothers is 26 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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.
- 2 A doA
- 3 AAABBCCDDEEFFD- youA · youA · youA · brokeB · smokeB · lateC · estateC · queerD · hereD · writE · permitE · fineF · mineF · fearD · tear
- 4 GGH moreG · beforeG · caseH
- 5 HI faceH · viewI
- 6 IJJ trueI · brotherJ · otherJ
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Scene--A lawyer's dreadful den. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Enter stall-fed citizen. | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| LAWYER.--'Mornin'. How-de-do? | 7 | /˘····· |
| CITIZEN.--Sir, same to you. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Called as counsel to retain you | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| In a case that I'll explain you. | 8 | ·····˘/· |
| Sad, so sad! Heart almost broke. | 7 | ····/·· |
| Hang it! where's my kerchief? Smoke? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Brother, sir, and I, of late, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Came into a large estate. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Brother's--h'm, ha,--rather queer | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Sometimes (tapping forehead) here. | 7 | /·/˘/˘· |
| What he needs--you know--a "writ"-- | 7 | ······· |
| Something, eh? that will permit | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Me to manage, sir, in fine, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| His estate, as well as mine. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| 'Course he'll kick; 't will break, I fear, | 8 | ········ |
| His loving heart--excuse this tear. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| LAWYER.--Have you nothing more? | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| All of this you said before-- | 7 | ······· |
| When last night I took your case. | 7 | ······· |
| CITIZEN.--Why, sir, your face | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Ne'er before has met my view! | 7 | ······· |
| LAWYER.--Eh? The devil! True: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| My mistake--it was your brother. | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| But you're very like each other. | 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.