Analysis of Fame [One thousand years I slept beneath the sod]
Ambrose Bierce 1842 (Meigs County) – 1914 (Chihuahua)
One thousand years I slept beneath the sod,
My sleep in 1901 beginning,
Then, by the action of some scurvy god
Who happened then to recollect my sinning,
I was revived and given another inning.
On breaking from my grave I saw a crowd
A formless multitude of men and women,
Gathered about a ruin. Clamors loud
I heard, and curses deep enough to swim in;
And, pointing at me, one said: 'Let's put _him_ in.'
Then each turned on me with an evil look,
As in my ragged shroud I stood and shook.
'Nay, good Posterity,' I cried, 'forbear!
If that's a jail I fain would be remaining
Outside, for truly I should little care
To catch my death of cold. I'm just regaining
The life lost long ago by my disdaining
To take precautions against draughts like those
That, haply, penetrate that cracked and splitting
Old structure.' Then an aged wight arose
From a chair of state in which he had been sitting,
And with preliminary coughing, spitting
And wheezing, said: ''T is not a jail, we're sure,
Whate'er it may have been when it was newer.
''T was found two centuries ago, o'ergrown
With brush and ivy, all undoored, ungated;
And in restoring it we found a stone
Set here and there in the dilapidated
And crumbling frieze, inscribed, in antiquated
Big characters, with certain uncouth names,
Which we conclude were borne of old by awful
Rapscallions guilty of all sinful games
Vagrants engaged in purposes unlawful,
And orators less sensible than jawful.
So each ten years we add to the long row
A name, the most unworthy that we know.'
'But why,' I asked, 'put _me_ in?' He replied:
'You look it'-and the judgment pained me greatly;
Right gladly would I then and there have died,
But that I'd risen from the grave so lately.
But on examining that solemn, stately
Old ruin I remarked: 'My friend, you err
The truth of this is just what I expected.
This building in its time made quite a stir.
I lived (was famous, too) when 't was erected.
The names here first inscribed were much respected.
This is the Hall of Fame, or I'm a stork,
And this goat pasture once was called New York.'
Scheme | ABABBCDCEEFF GBGBBHBHBBGG DAXIJKLKLLGX MNMNNGJGJIOO |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110101 110010 110101111 1101101110 110101001010 1101111101 011011010 100101011 11010101110 01011111110 1111111101 1011011101 110100111 11011111010 1111011101 11111111010 01110111010 1101001111 111011010 110111101 101110111110 0101001010 01011110111 10111111110 1111100011 11010111 0001011101 1101000100 01001010100 1100110111 11010111110 11011101 10010100010 0100110011 1111111011 0101010111 1111110101 11100101110 1101110111 11110101110 11010011010 1101011111 01111111010 1100111101 111101111010 01110101010 1101111101 0111011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,031 |
Words | 386 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 12, 12, 12 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 401 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 94 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:56 min read
- 58 Views
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"Fame [One thousand years I slept beneath the sod]" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/1773/fame-%5Bone-thousand-years-i-slept-beneath-the-sod%5D>.
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