The Hermit
To a hunter from the city,Overtaken by the night,Spake, in tones of tender pityFor himself, an aged wight:
"I have found the world a fountainOf deceit and Life a sham.I have taken to the mountainAnd a Holy Hermit am.
"Sternly bent on Contemplation,Far apart from human kind----In the hill my habitation,In the Infinite my mind.
"Ten long years I've lived a dumb thing,Growing bald and bent with dole.Vainly seeking for a SomethingTo engage my gloomy soul.
"Gentle Pilgrim, while my roots youEat, and quaff my simple drink,Please suggest whatever suits youAs a Theme for me to Think."
Then the hunter answered gravely:"From distraction free, and strife,You could ponder very bravelyOn the Vanity of Life."
"O, thou wise and learned Teacher,You have solved the Problem well--You have saved a grateful creatureFrom the agonies of hell.
"Take another root, anotherCup of water: eat and drink.Now I have a Subject, brother,Tell me What, and How, to think."
Words in this poem
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- sternly adv.
- In a stern manner.
- quaff v. t.
- To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. [For quach, fr. Gael. & Ir. cuach a drinking cup; cf. L. caucus a drinking vessel. Cf. Quaigh.]
- gravely adv.
- In a grave manner.
- distraction n.
- The act of distracting; a drawing apart; separation. [L. distractio: cf. F. distraction.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Hermit 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 Hermit, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-hermit.html, id L28186.
Form and metre
The Hermit is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See 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 ABAB cityA · nightB · pityA · wightB
- 2 ABAB fountainA · shamB · mountainA · amB
- 3 ABAB contemplationA · kindB · habitationA · mindB
- 4 ABAB thingA · doleB · somethingA · soulB
- 5 ABAB youA · drinkB · youA · thinkB
- 6 ABAB gravelyA · strifeB · bravelyA · lifeB
- 7 ABAB teacherA · wellB · creatureA · hellB
- 8 ABAB anotherA · drinkB · brotherA · thinkB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To a hunter from the city, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Overtaken by the night, | 7 | /˘·˘··· |
| Spake, in tones of tender pity | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| For himself, an aged wight: | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| "I have found the world a fountain | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Of deceit and Life a sham. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| I have taken to the mountain | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And a Holy Hermit am. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| "Sternly bent on Contemplation, | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Far apart from human kind---- | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| In the hill my habitation, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| In the Infinite my mind. | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| "Ten long years I've lived a dumb thing, | 8 | ········ |
| Growing bald and bent with dole. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Vainly seeking for a Something | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| To engage my gloomy soul. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| "Gentle Pilgrim, while my roots you | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Eat, and quaff my simple drink, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Please suggest whatever suits you | 8 | ·˘/·/˘·· |
| As a Theme for me to Think." | 7 | ······· |
| Then the hunter answered gravely: | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| "From distraction free, and strife, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| You could ponder very bravely | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| On the Vanity of Life." | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| "O, thou wise and learned Teacher, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| You have solved the Problem well-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You have saved a grateful creature | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| From the agonies of hell. | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| "Take another root, another | 8 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Cup of water: eat and drink. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Now I have a Subject, brother, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Tell me What, and How, to think." | 7 | ······· |
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.