The Death of Grant
Father! whose hard and cruel lawIs part of thy compassion's plan,Thy works presumptuously we scanFor what the prophets say they saw.
Unbidden still the awful slopeWalling us in we climb to gainAssurance of the shining plainThat faith has certified to hope.
In vain!--beyond the circling hillThe shadow and the cloud abide.Subdue the doubt, our spirits guideTo trust the Record and be still.
To trust it loyally as heWho, heedful of his high design,Ne'er raised a seeking eye to thine,But wrought thy will unconsciously,
Disputing not of chance or fate,Nor questioning of cause or creed;For anything but duty's deedToo simply wise, too humbly great.
The cannon syllabled his name;His shadow shifted o'er the land,Portentous, as at his commandSuccessive cities sprang to flame!
He fringed the continent with fire,The rivers ran in lines of light!Thy will be done on earth--if rightOr wrong he cared not to inquire.
His was the heavy hand, and hisThe service of the despot blade;His the soft answer that allayedWar's giant animosities.
Let us have peace: our clouded eyes,Fill, Father, with another light,That we may see with clearer sightThy servant's soul in Paradise.
Words in this poem
- presumptuously adv.
- In a presumptuous manner; arrogantly.
- scan v. t.
- To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. Ascend, Descend, Scale a ladder.]
- unbidden a.
- Not bidden; not commanded.
- walling n.
- The act of making a wall or walls.
- loyally adv.
- In a loyal manner; faithfully.
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- portentous a.
- Of the nature of a portent; containing portents; foreschadowing, esp. foreschadowing ill; ominous. [L. portentosus.]
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Death of Grant 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 Death of Grant, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-death-of-grant.html, id L28018.
Form and metre
The Death of Grant is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 ABBA lawA · planB · scanB · sawA
- 2 ABBA slopeA · gainB · plainB · hopeA
- 3 ABBA hillA · abideB · guideB · stillA
- 4 ABBA heA · designB · thineB · unconsciouslyA
- 5 ABBA fateA · creedB · deedB · greatA
- 6 ABBA nameA · landB · commandB · flameA
- 7 ABBA fireA · lightB · rightB · inquireA
- 8 ABBA hisA · bladeB · allayedB · animositiesA
- 9 ABBA eyesA · lightB · sightB · paradiseA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Father! whose hard and cruel law | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Is part of thy compassion's plan, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Thy works presumptuously we scan | 9 | ··˘/˘˘˘·· |
| For what the prophets say they saw. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Unbidden still the awful slope | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Walling us in we climb to gain | 8 | /˘······ |
| Assurance of the shining plain | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| That faith has certified to hope. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In vain!--beyond the circling hill | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The shadow and the cloud abide. | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| Subdue the doubt, our spirits guide | 8 | ˘/··//˘· |
| To trust the Record and be still. | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| To trust it loyally as he | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Who, heedful of his high design, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Ne'er raised a seeking eye to thine, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But wrought thy will unconsciously, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Disputing not of chance or fate, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Nor questioning of cause or creed; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| For anything but duty's deed | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Too simply wise, too humbly great. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The cannon syllabled his name; | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| His shadow shifted o'er the land, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Portentous, as at his command | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| Successive cities sprang to flame! | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| He fringed the continent with fire, | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| The rivers ran in lines of light! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy will be done on earth--if right | 8 | ········ |
| Or wrong he cared not to inquire. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| His was the heavy hand, and his | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The service of the despot blade; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His the soft answer that allayed | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| War's giant animosities. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Let us have peace: our clouded eyes, | 8 | ····//˘· |
| Fill, Father, with another light, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| That we may see with clearer sight | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy servant's soul in Paradise. | 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.