The Day of Wrath
Day of Satan's painful duty!Earth shall vanish, hot and sooty;So says Virtue, so says Beauty.
Ah! what terror shall be shapingWhen the Judge the truth's undraping!Cats from every bag escaping!
Now the trumpet's invocationCalls the dead to condemnation;All receive an invitation.
Death and Nature now are quaking,And the late lamented, waking,In their breezy shrouds are shaking.
Lo! the Ledger's leaves are stirring,And the Clerk, to them referring,Makes it awkward for the erring.
When the Judge appears in session,We shall all attend confession,Loudly preaching non-suppression.
How shall I then make romancesMitigating circumstances?Even the just must take their chances.
King whose majesty amazes.Save thou him who sings thy praises;Fountain, quench my private blazes.
Pray remember, sacred Savior,Mine the playful hand that gave yourDeath-blow. Pardon such behavior.
Seeking me fatigue assailed thee,Calvary's outlook naught availed thee:Now 't were cruel if I failed thee.
Righteous judge and learned brother,Pray thy prejudices smotherEre we meet to try each other.
Sighs of guilt my conscience gushes,And my face vermilion flushes;Spare me for my pretty blushes.
Thief and harlot, when repenting,Thou forgav'st--be complimentingMe with sign of like relenting.
If too bold is my petitionI'll receive with due submissionMy dismissal--from perdition.
When thy sheep thou hast selectedFrom the goats, may I, respected,Stand amongst them undetected.
When offenders are indicted,And with trial-flames ignited,Elsewhere I'll attend if cited.
Ashen-hearted, prone, and prayerful,When of death I see the air full,Lest I perish, too, be careful.
On that day of lamentation,When, to enjoy the conflagration.Men come forth, O, be not cruel.Spare me, Lord--make them thy fuel.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- lamented a.
- Mourned for; bewailed.
- breezy a.
- Characterized by, or having, breezes; airy.
- clerk n.
- A clergyman or ecclesiastic. [Either OF. clerc, fr. L. clericus a priest, or AS. clerc, cleric, clerk, priest, fr. L. clericus, fr. Gr. Clergy.]
- session n.
- The act of sitting, or the state of being seated. [L. sessio, fr. sedere, sessum, to sit: cf. F. session. See Sit.]
- outlook v. t.
- To face down; to outstare.
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- perdition n.
- Entire loss; utter destruction; ruin; esp., the utter loss of the soul, or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death. [F., fr. L. perditio, fr. perdere, perditum, to ruin, to lose; per (cf. Skr. para away) + -dere (only in comp.) to put; akin to Gr. do. See Do.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- amongst prep.
- Mixed or mingled; surrounded by. [OE. amongist, amonges, amonge, among, AS. onmang, ongemang, gemang, in a crowd or mixture. For the ending -st see Amidst. See Mingle.]
- ashen a.
- Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
- prayerful a.
- Given to prayer; praying much or often; devotional.
- conflagration n.
- A fire extending to many objects, or over a large space; a general burning.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Day of Wrath 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 Day of Wrath, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-day-of-wrath.html, id L28193.
Form and metre
The Day of Wrath is 55 lines in 18 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 65% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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.
- 1 AAA dutyA · sootyA · beautyA
- 2 AAA shapingA · undrapingA · escapingA
- 3 AAA invocationA · condemnationA · invitationA
- 4 AAA quakingA · wakingA · shakingA
- 5 AAA stirringA · referringA · erringA
- 6 AAA sessionA · confessionA · suppressionA
- 7 AAA romancesA · circumstancesA · chancesA
- 8 AAA amazesA · praisesA · blazesA
- 9 A-A saviorA · your · behaviorA
- 10 AAA theeA · theeA · theeA
- 11 AAA brotherA · smotherA · otherA
- 12 AAA gushesA · flushesA · blushesA
- 13 AAA repentingA · complimentingA · relentingA
- 14 AAA petitionA · submissionA · perditionA
- 15 AAA selectedA · respectedA · undetectedA
- 16 AAA indictedA · ignitedA · citedA
- 17 AAA prayerfulA · fullA · carefulA
- 18 AABB lamentationA · conflagrationA · cruelB · fuelB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Day of Satan's painful duty! | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Earth shall vanish, hot and sooty; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| So says Virtue, so says Beauty. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Ah! what terror shall be shaping | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| When the Judge the truth's undraping! | 8 | ········ |
| Cats from every bag escaping! | 9 | ··/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Now the trumpet's invocation | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Calls the dead to condemnation; | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| All receive an invitation. | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Death and Nature now are quaking, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And the late lamented, waking, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| In their breezy shrouds are shaking. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Lo! the Ledger's leaves are stirring, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And the Clerk, to them referring, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Makes it awkward for the erring. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| When the Judge appears in session, | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| We shall all attend confession, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Loudly preaching non-suppression. | 8 | /˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| How shall I then make romances | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Mitigating circumstances? | 8 | /˘·˘/˘·˘ |
| Even the just must take their chances. | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| King whose majesty amazes. | 8 | ··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Save thou him who sings thy praises; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Fountain, quench my private blazes. | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Pray remember, sacred Savior, | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Mine the playful hand that gave your | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Death-blow. Pardon such behavior. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Seeking me fatigue assailed thee, | 8 | /˘·˘/˘/· |
| Calvary's outlook naught availed thee: | 8 | /˘/··˘/· |
| Now 't were cruel if I failed thee. | 8 | ···/···· |
| Righteous judge and learned brother, | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Pray thy prejudices smother | 8 | ··/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Ere we meet to try each other. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Sighs of guilt my conscience gushes, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And my face vermilion flushes; | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Spare me for my pretty blushes. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Thief and harlot, when repenting, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Thou forgav'st--be complimenting | 8 | ····/˘·˘ |
| Me with sign of like relenting. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| If too bold is my petition | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| I'll receive with due submission | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| My dismissal--from perdition. | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| When thy sheep thou hast selected | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| From the goats, may I, respected, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Stand amongst them undetected. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| When offenders are indicted, | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And with trial-flames ignited, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Elsewhere I'll attend if cited. | 8 | /··˘/·/˘ |
| Ashen-hearted, prone, and prayerful, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| When of death I see the air full, | 8 | ········ |
| Lest I perish, too, be careful. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| On that day of lamentation, | 8 | ········ |
| When, to enjoy the conflagration. | 9 | ··˘/··˘/˘ |
| Men come forth, O, be not cruel. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Spare me, Lord--make them thy fuel. | 8 | ······/˘ |
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