Vice Versa
Down in the state of Maine, the story goes,A woman, to secure a lapsing pension,Married a soldier--though the good Lord knowsThat very common act scarce calls for mention.What makes it worthy to be writ and read--The man she married had been nine hours dead!
Now, marrying a corpse is not an actFamiliar to our daily observation,And so I crave her pardon if the factSuggests this interesting speculation:Should some mischance restore the man to lifeWould she be then a widow, or a wife?
Let casuists contest the point; I'm notDisposed to grapple with so great a matter.'T would tie my thinker in a double knotAnd drive me staring mad as any hatter--Though I submit that hatters are, in fact,Sane, and all other human beings cracked.
Small thought have I of Destiny or Chance;Luck seems to me the same thing as Intention;In metaphysics I could ne'er advance,And think it of the Devil's own invention.Enough of joy to know though when I wedI must be married, yet I may be dead.
Words in this poem
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- speculation n.
- The act of speculating. Specifically: -- (a) Examination by the eye; view. [L. speculatio a spying out, observation: cf. F. spéculation.]
- hatter v. t.
- To tire or worry; -- out. [Prov. E., to entangle; cf. LG. verhaddern, verheddern, verhiddern.]
- sane a.
- Being in a healthy condition; not deranged; acting rationally; -- said of the mind. [L. sanus; cf. Gr. Sound, a.]
- cracked a.
- Coarsely ground or broken; as, cracked wheat.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vice Versa 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, Vice Versa, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/vice-versa.html, id L28091.
Form and metre
Vice Versa is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCC goesA · pensionB · knowsA · mentionB · readC · deadC
- 2 ABABCC actA · observationB · factA · speculationB · lifeC · wifeC
- 3 ABABCC notA · matterB · knotA · hatterB · factC · crackedC
- 4 ABABCC chanceA · intentionB · advanceA · inventionB · wedC · deadC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Down in the state of Maine, the story goes, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A woman, to secure a lapsing pension, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Married a soldier--though the good Lord knows | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| That very common act scarce calls for mention. | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| What makes it worthy to be writ and read-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The man she married had been nine hours dead! | 10 | ···/˘···/· |
| Now, marrying a corpse is not an act | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Familiar to our daily observation, | 11 | ˘/˘·//˘·˘/˘ |
| And so I crave her pardon if the fact | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Suggests this interesting speculation: | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Should some mischance restore the man to life | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Would she be then a widow, or a wife? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Let casuists contest the point; I'm not | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Disposed to grapple with so great a matter. | 11 | ˘/·/˘····/˘ |
| 'T would tie my thinker in a double knot | 11 | ····/˘··/˘· |
| And drive me staring mad as any hatter-- | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Though I submit that hatters are, in fact, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Sane, and all other human beings cracked. | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Small thought have I of Destiny or Chance; | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Luck seems to me the same thing as Intention; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| In metaphysics I could ne'er advance, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| And think it of the Devil's own invention. | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| Enough of joy to know though when I wed | 10 | ˘/········ |
| I must be married, yet I may be dead. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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.