The Tables Turned
Over the man the street car ran,And the driver did never grin."O killer of men, pray tell me whenYour laughter means to begin.
"Ten years to a day I've observed you slay,And I never have missed beforeYour jubilant peals as your crunching wheelsWere spattered with human gore.
"Why is it, my boy, that you smother your joy,And why do you make no signOf the merry mind that is dancing behindA solemner face than mine?"
The driver replied: "I would laugh till I criedIf I had bisected you;But I'd like to explain, if I can for the pain,'T is myself that I've cut in two."
Words in this poem
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
- jubilant a.
- Uttering songs of triumph; shouting with joy; triumphant; exulting. [L. jubilans, -antis, p. pr. of jubilare to shout for joy: cf. F. jubila. See Jubilate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Tables Turned 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 Tables Turned, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-tables-turned.html, id L28118.
Form and metre
The Tables Turned is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is anapaestic common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 -AAA ran · grinA · whenA · beginA
- 2 -A-A slay · beforeA · wheels · goreA
- 3 -A-A joy · signA · behind · mineA
- 4 -A-A cried · youA · pain · twoA
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 anapaestic common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Over the man the street car ran, | 8 | ········ |
| And the driver did never grin. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| "O killer of men, pray tell me when | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Your laughter means to begin. | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| "Ten years to a day I've observed you slay, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And I never have missed before | 9 | ··/˘··˘·· |
| Your jubilant peals as your crunching wheels | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Were spattered with human gore. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| "Why is it, my boy, that you smother your joy, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And why do you make no sign | 7 | ······· |
| Of the merry mind that is dancing behind | 11 | ··/˘···/˘·· |
| A solemner face than mine?" | 7 | ······· |
| The driver replied: "I would laugh till I cried | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| If I had bisected you; | 7 | ······· |
| But I'd like to explain, if I can for the pain, | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| 'T is myself that I've cut in two." | 9 | ···/····· |
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.