The Dying Statesman
It is a politician man--He draweth near his end,And friends weep round that partisan,Of every man the friend.
Between the Known and the UnknownHe lieth on the strand;The light upon the sea is thrownThat lay upon the land.
It shineth in his glazing eye,It burneth on his face;God send that when we come to dieWe know that sign of grace!
Upon his lips his blessed spritePoiseth her joyous wing."How is it with thee, child of light?Dost hear the angels sing?"
"The song I hear, the crown I see,And know that God is love.Farewell, dark world--I go to beA postmaster above!"
For him no monumental arch,But, O, 'tis good and braveTo see the Grand Old Party marchTo office o'er his grave!
Words in this poem
- sprite n.
- A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
- postmaster n.
- One who has charge of a station for the accommodation of travelers; one who supplies post horses.
- 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 Dying Statesman 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 Dying Statesman, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-dying-statesman.html, id L28017.
Form and metre
The Dying Statesman is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 manA · endB · partisanA · friendB
- 2 ABAB unknownA · strandB · thrownA · landB
- 3 ABAB eyeA · faceB · dieA · graceB
- 4 ABAB spriteA · wingB · lightA · singB
- 5 ABAB seeA · loveB · beA · aboveB
- 6 ABAB archA · braveB · marchA · graveB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It is a politician man-- | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| He draweth near his end, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And friends weep round that partisan, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Of every man the friend. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Between the Known and the Unknown | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He lieth on the strand; | 5 | ····· |
| The light upon the sea is thrown | 8 | ········ |
| That lay upon the land. | 6 | ······ |
| It shineth in his glazing eye, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| It burneth on his face; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| God send that when we come to die | 8 | ········ |
| We know that sign of grace! | 6 | ······ |
| Upon his lips his blessed sprite | 7 | ······· |
| Poiseth her joyous wing. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| "How is it with thee, child of light? | 8 | ········ |
| Dost hear the angels sing?" | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "The song I hear, the crown I see, | 8 | ········ |
| And know that God is love. | 6 | ······ |
| Farewell, dark world--I go to be | 8 | ·/······ |
| A postmaster above!" | 6 | ·/·˘·· |
| For him no monumental arch, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| But, O, 'tis good and brave | 6 | ······ |
| To see the Grand Old Party march | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To office o'er his grave! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.