The God's View-Point
Cheeta Raibama Chunder Sen,The wisest and the best of men,Betook him to the place where satWith folded feet upon a matOf precious stones beneath a palm,In sweet and everlasting calm,That ancient and immortal gent,The God of Rational Content.As tranquil and unmoved as Fate,The deity reposed in state,With palm to palm and sole to sole,And beaded breast and beetling jowl,And belly spread upon his thighs,And costly diamonds for eyes.As Chunder Sen approached and kneltTo show the reverence he felt;Then beat his head upon the sodTo prove his fealty to the god;And then by gestures signifiedThe other sentiments inside;The god's right eye (as Chunder Sen,The wisest and the best of men,Half-fancied) grew by just a thoughtMore narrow than it truly ought.Yet still that prince of devotees,Persistent upon bended kneesAnd elbows bored into the earth,Declared the god's exceeding worth,And begged his favor. Then at last,Within that cavernous and vastThoracic space was heard a soundLike that of water underground--A gurgling note that found a ventAt mouth of that Immortal GentIn such a chuckle as no earHad e'er been privileged to hear!
Cheeta Raibama Chunder Sen,The wisest, greatest, best of men,Heard with a natural surpriseThat mighty midriff improvise.And greater yet the marvel wasWhen from between those massive jawsFell words to make the views more plainThe god was pleased to entertain:"Cheeta Raibama Chunder Sen,"So ran the rede in speech of men--"Foremost of mortals in assentTo creed of Rational Content,Why come you here to impetrateA blessing on your scurvy pate?Can you not rationally beContent without disturbing me?Can you not take a hint--a wink--Of what of all this rot I think?Is laughter lost upon you quite,To check you in your pious rite?What! know you not we gods protestThat all religion is a jest?You take me seriously?--youAbout me make a great ado(When I but wish to be alone)With attitudes supine and prone,With genuflexions and with prayers,And putting on of solemn airs,To draw my mind from the surveyOf Rational Content away!Learn once for all, if learn you can,This truth, significant to man:A pious person is by oddsThe one most hateful to the gods."Then stretching forth his great right hand,Which shadowed all that sunny land,That deity bestowed a touchWhich Chunder Sen not overmuchEnjoyed--a touch divine that madeThe sufferer hear stars! They playedAnd sang as on Creation's mornWhen spheric harmony was born.
Cheeta Raibama Chunder Sen,The most astonished man of men,Fell straight asleep, and when he wokeThe deity nor moved nor spoke,But sat beneath that ancient palmIn sweet and everlasting calm.
Words in this poem 20
- gent a.
- Gentle; noble; of gentle birth. [OF. gent, fr. L. genitus born, or (less prob.) fr. gentilis. See Genteel.]
- unmoved a.
- Not moved; fixed; firm; unshaken; calm; apathetic.
- reposed a.
- Composed; calm; tranquil; at rest.
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- cavernous a.
- Full of caverns; resembling a cavern or large cavity; hollow. [L. cavernosus: cf. F. caverneux.]
- chuckle v. t.
- To call, as a hen her chickens; to cluck. [From lst Chuck.]
- improvise v. t.
- To compose, recite, or sing extemporaneously, especially in verse; to extemporize; also, to play upon an instrument, or to act, extemporaneously. [F. improviser, it. improvvisare, fr. improvviso unprovided, sudden, extempore, L. improvisus; pref. im- not + provisus foreseen, provided. See Proviso.]
- rede v. t.
- To advise or counsel. [See Read, v. t.]
- impetrate a.
- Obtained by entreaty. Ld. Herbert. [L. impetratus, p. p. of impetrare to obtain; pref. im- in + patrare to bring to pass.]
- pate n.
- A pie. See Patty. [F. pâté.]
- rationally adv.
- In a rational manner.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- supine a.
- Lying on the back, or with the face upward; -- opposed to prone. [L. supinus, akin to sub under, super above. Cf. Sub-, Super-.]
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
- hateful a.
- Manifesting hate or hatred; malignant; malevolent.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- sufferer n.
- One who suffers; one who endures or undergoes suffering; one who sustains inconvenience or loss; as, sufferers by poverty or sickness; men are sufferers by fire or by losses at sea.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- spheric a.
- Having the form of a sphere; like a sphere; globular; orbicular; as, a spherical body. [L. sphaericus, Gr. sphérique.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The God's View-Point 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 God's View-Point, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-gods-view-point.html, id L28100.
Form and metre
The God's View-Point is 84 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRR senA · menA · satB · matB · palmC · calmC · gentD · contentD · fateE · stateE · soleF · jowlF · thighsG · eyesG · kneltH · feltH · sodI · godI · signifiedJ · insideJ · senK · menK · thoughtL · oughtL · devoteesM · kneesM · earthN · worthN · lastO · vastO · soundP · undergroundP · ventQ · gentQ · earR · hearR
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUU senA · menA · surpriseB · improviseB · wasC · jawsC · plainD · entertainD · senE · menE · assentF · contentF · impetrateG · pateG · beH · meH · winkI · thinkI · quiteJ · riteJ · protestK · jestK · youL · adoL · aloneM · proneM · prayersN · airsN · surveyO · awayO · canP · manP · oddsQ · godsQ · handR · landR · touchS · overmuchS · madeT · playedT · mornU · bornU
- 3 AABBCC senA · menA · wokeB · spokeB · palmC · calmC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cheeta Raibama Chunder Sen, | 8 | ········ |
| The wisest and the best of men, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Betook him to the place where sat | 8 | ˘/······ |
| With folded feet upon a mat | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of precious stones beneath a palm, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In sweet and everlasting calm, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That ancient and immortal gent, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The God of Rational Content. | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| As tranquil and unmoved as Fate, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The deity reposed in state, | 8 | ·/˘˘/··· |
| With palm to palm and sole to sole, | 8 | ········ |
| And beaded breast and beetling jowl, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And belly spread upon his thighs, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And costly diamonds for eyes. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| As Chunder Sen approached and knelt | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To show the reverence he felt; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Then beat his head upon the sod | 8 | ········ |
| To prove his fealty to the god; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And then by gestures signified | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The other sentiments inside; | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| The god's right eye (as Chunder Sen, | 8 | ········ |
| The wisest and the best of men, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Half-fancied) grew by just a thought | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| More narrow than it truly ought. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Yet still that prince of devotees, | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Persistent upon bended knees | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| And elbows bored into the earth, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Declared the god's exceeding worth, | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| And begged his favor. Then at last, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Within that cavernous and vast | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Thoracic space was heard a sound | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Like that of water underground-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A gurgling note that found a vent | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| At mouth of that Immortal Gent | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In such a chuckle as no ear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Had e'er been privileged to hear! | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Cheeta Raibama Chunder Sen, | 8 | ········ |
| The wisest, greatest, best of men, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Heard with a natural surprise | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| That mighty midriff improvise. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And greater yet the marvel was | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When from between those massive jaws | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Fell words to make the views more plain | 8 | ········ |
| The god was pleased to entertain: | 8 | ······˘/ |
| "Cheeta Raibama Chunder Sen," | 8 | ········ |
| So ran the rede in speech of men-- | 8 | ········ |
| "Foremost of mortals in assent | 8 | /··/˘·˘/ |
| To creed of Rational Content, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Why come you here to impetrate | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| A blessing on your scurvy pate? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Can you not rationally be | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| Content without disturbing me? | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| Can you not take a hint--a wink-- | 8 | ········ |
| Of what of all this rot I think? | 8 | ········ |
| Is laughter lost upon you quite, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To check you in your pious rite? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What! know you not we gods protest | 8 | ······/· |
| That all religion is a jest? | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| You take me seriously?--you | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| About me make a great ado | 8 | ······˘/ |
| (When I but wish to be alone) | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With attitudes supine and prone, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| With genuflexions and with prayers, | 8 | ········ |
| And putting on of solemn airs, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To draw my mind from the survey | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Of Rational Content away! | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘/ |
| Learn once for all, if learn you can, | 8 | ········ |
| This truth, significant to man: | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| A pious person is by odds | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The one most hateful to the gods." | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then stretching forth his great right hand, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which shadowed all that sunny land, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That deity bestowed a touch | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| Which Chunder Sen not overmuch | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Enjoyed--a touch divine that made | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| The sufferer hear stars! They played | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And sang as on Creation's morn | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| When spheric harmony was born. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Cheeta Raibama Chunder Sen, | 8 | ········ |
| The most astonished man of men, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Fell straight asleep, and when he woke | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The deity nor moved nor spoke, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| But sat beneath that ancient palm | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In sweet and everlasting calm. | 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.