The Man Born Blind
A man born blind received his sightBy a painful operation;And these are things he saw in the lightOf an infant observation.
He saw a merchant, good and wise.And greatly, too, respected,Who looked, to those imperfect eyes,Like a swindler undetected.
He saw a patriot addressA noisy public meeting.And said: "Why, that's a calf. I guess.That for the teat is bleating."
A doctor stood beside a bedAnd shook his summit sadly."O see that foul assassin!" saidThe man who saw so badly.
He saw a lawyer pleading forA thief whom they'd been jailing,And said: "That's an accomplice, orMy sight again is failing."
Upon the Bench a Justice sat,With nothing to restrain him;"'Tis strange," said the observer, "thatThey ventured to unchain him."
With theologic works supplied,He saw a solemn preacher;"A burglar with his kit," he cried,"To rob a fellow creature."
A bluff old farmer next he sawSell produce in a village,And said: "What, what! is there no lawTo punish men for pillage?"
A dame, tall, fair and stately, passed,Who many charms united;He thanked his stars his lot was castWhere sepulchers were whited.
He saw a soldier stiff and stern,"Full of strange oaths" and toddy;But was unable to discernA wound upon his body.
Ten square leagues of rolling groundTo one great man belonging,Looked like one little grassy moundWith worms beneath it thronging.
A palace's well-carven stones,Where Dives dwelt contented,Seemed built throughout of human bonesWith human blood cemented.
He watched the yellow shining threadA silk-worm was a-spinning;"That creature's coining gold." he said,"To pay some girl for sinning."
His eyes were so untrained and dimAll politics, religions,Arts, sciences, appeared to himBut modes of plucking pigeons.
And so he drew his final breath,And thought he saw with sorrowSome persons weeping for his deathWho'd be all smiles to-morrow.
Words in this poem
- swindler n.
- One who swindles, or defrauds grossly; one who makes a practice of defrauding others by imposition or deliberate artifice; a cheat. [G. schwindler, fr. schwindlen to be dizzy, to act thoughtlessly, to cheat, fr. schwindel dizziness, fr. schwinden to vanish, to disappear, to dwindle. See Swim ]
- bleating a.
- Crying as a sheep does.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- unchain v. t.
- To free from chains or slavery; to let loose. Prior. [1st pref. un- + chain.]
- burglar n.
- One guilty of the crime of burglary. Burglar alarm, a device for giving alarm if a door or window is opened from without. [OE. burg town, F. bourg, fr. LL. burgus (of German origin) + OF. lere thief, fr. L. latro. See Borough, and Larceny.]
- bluff a.
- Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship. [Cf. OD. blaf flat, broad, blaffaert one with a broad face, also, a boaster; or G. verblüffen to confuse, LG. bluffen to frighten; to unknown origin.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- toddy n.
- A juice drawn from various kinds of palms in the East Indies; or, a spirituous liquor procured from it by fermentation. [Formed from Hind. ta the juice of the palmyra tree, popularly, toddy, fr. ta the palmyra tree, Skr. tala.]
- carven a.
- Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
- dives n.
- The name popularly given to the rich man in our Lord's parable of the [L., rich.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Man Born Blind 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 Man Born Blind, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-man-born-blind.html, id L28201.
Form and metre
The Man Born Blind is 60 lines in 15 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABAB sightA · operationB · lightA · observationB
- 2 ABAB wiseA · respectedB · eyesA · undetectedB
- 3 ABAB addressA · meetingB · guessA · bleatingB
- 4 ABAB bedA · sadlyB · saidA · badlyB
- 5 ABAB forA · jailingB · orA · failingB
- 6 ABAB satA · himB · thatA · himB
- 7 ABAB suppliedA · preacherB · criedA · creatureB
- 8 ABAB sawA · villageB · lawA · pillageB
- 9 ABAB passedA · unitedB · castA · whitedB
- 10 ABAB sternA · toddyB · discernA · bodyB
- 11 ABAB groundA · belongingB · moundA · throngingB
- 12 ABAB stonesA · contentedB · bonesA · cementedB
- 13 ABAB threadA · spinningB · saidA · sinningB
- 14 ABAB dimA · religionsB · himA · pigeonsB
- 15 ABAB breathA · sorrowB · deathA · morrowB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A man born blind received his sight | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| By a painful operation; | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| And these are things he saw in the light | 9 | ········· |
| Of an infant observation. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| He saw a merchant, good and wise. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And greatly, too, respected, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Who looked, to those imperfect eyes, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Like a swindler undetected. | 9 | ··/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| He saw a patriot address | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| A noisy public meeting. | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| And said: "Why, that's a calf. I guess. | 8 | ········ |
| That for the teat is bleating." | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| A doctor stood beside a bed | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And shook his summit sadly. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| "O see that foul assassin!" said | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The man who saw so badly. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He saw a lawyer pleading for | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A thief whom they'd been jailing, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And said: "That's an accomplice, or | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| My sight again is failing." | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Upon the Bench a Justice sat, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With nothing to restrain him; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| "'Tis strange," said the observer, "that | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| They ventured to unchain him." | 8 | ·/˘˘·˘/· |
| With theologic works supplied, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| He saw a solemn preacher; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| "A burglar with his kit," he cried, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "To rob a fellow creature." | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| A bluff old farmer next he saw | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sell produce in a village, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And said: "What, what! is there no law | 8 | ········ |
| To punish men for pillage?" | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| A dame, tall, fair and stately, passed, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who many charms united; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| He thanked his stars his lot was cast | 8 | ········ |
| Where sepulchers were whited. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He saw a soldier stiff and stern, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Full of strange oaths" and toddy; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But was unable to discern | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| A wound upon his body. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Ten square leagues of rolling ground | 7 | ····/˘· |
| To one great man belonging, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Looked like one little grassy mound | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With worms beneath it thronging. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| A palace's well-carven stones, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Where Dives dwelt contented, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Seemed built throughout of human bones | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With human blood cemented. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| He watched the yellow shining thread | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A silk-worm was a-spinning; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "That creature's coining gold." he said, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| "To pay some girl for sinning." | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| His eyes were so untrained and dim | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| All politics, religions, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Arts, sciences, appeared to him | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| But modes of plucking pigeons. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And so he drew his final breath, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And thought he saw with sorrow | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Some persons weeping for his death | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Who'd be all smiles to-morrow. | 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.