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Poetry

Ambrose Bierce

BOOK TYPE
Poetry
READING TIME
At your own pace
WORDS
120,170
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About this book

A collection of Ambrose Bierce’s poetry.

Poetry

Inside the book

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  1. Titlepage
  2. Imprint
  3. Poetry
    1. Shapes of Clay
      1. Dedication
      2. Preface
      3. The Passing Show
        1. I
        2. II
      4. Elixir Vitae
      5. Convalescent
      6. At the Close of the Canvass
      7. Novum Organum
      8. Geotheos
      9. Politics
      10. The Valley of Dry Bones
      11. Polyphemus
      12. In Defense
      13. Invocation
      14. Religion
      15. Two Socialists
      16. A Morning Fancy
      17. Visions of Sin
      18. Genius
      19. The Town of Dae
      20. An Anarchist
      21. An Offer of Marriage
      22. Arma Virumque
      23. On a Proposed Crematory
      24. A Demand
      25. The Weather Wight
      26. T. A. H.
      27. My Monument
      28. Mad
      29. For Coercion of Colombia
      30. A Teagoing Admiral
      31. The Wooer
      32. Silhouettes of Orientals
      33. Land of the Pilgrim’s Pride
      34. A Single Termer
      35. A Plague of Asses
      36. In Cuba
      37. For a Certain Critic
      38. To a Summer Poet
      39. Arthur McEwen
      40. Charles and Peter
      41. Contemplation
      42. The Golden Age
      43. A Prophet of Peace
      44. An Unreformable Reformer
      45. The Word-Way in Panama
      46. The Jack of Clubs
      47. A Naval Method
      48. Another Aspirant
      49. A Learner
      50. To Bridget
      51. After Tennyson
      52. To My Bird
      53. Business
      54. A Possibility
      55. To a Censor
      56. “The Whole World Kin”
      57. A Future Conversation
      58. The Hesitating Veteran
      59. A Year’s “Casualties”
      60. Inspiration
      61. To-Day
      62. An Alibi
      63. A Meeting
      64. J. F. B.
      65. The Dying Statesman
      66. The Death of Grant
      67. The Fountain Refilled
      68. Laus Lucis
      69. Nanine
      70. Technology
      71. A Reply to a Letter
      72. To Oscar Wilde
      73. Born Leaders of Men
      74. The Crime of 1903
      75. For Expulsion
      76. Judex Jocosus
      77. “Graft”
      78. The Tale of a Crime
      79. To the Bartholdi Statue
      80. An Unmerry Christmas
      81. An Inscription
      82. From Virginia to Paris
      83. A “Mute Inglorious Milton”
      84. The Free Trader’s Lament
      85. Subterranean Phantasies
      86. In Memoriam
      87. The Statesmen
      88. Brothers
      89. The Cynic’s Bequest
      90. Corrected News
      91. Justice
      92. Mr. Fink’s Debating Donkey
      93. To My Laundress
      94. Fame
      95. Omnes Vanitas
      96. The New “Ulalume”
      97. Consolation
      98. Fate
      99. Philosopher Bimm
      100. Reminded
      101. Salvini in America
      102. Another Way
      103. Art
      104. To One Across the Way
      105. To a Debtor Abroad
      106. Genesis
      107. Liberty
      108. The Passing of Shepherd
      109. To Maude
      110. The Birth of Virtue
      111. The Scurril Press
      112. Stanley
      113. One of the Unfair Sex
      114. The Lord’s Prayer on a Coin
      115. An Absurdum
      116. Saith the Czar
      117. The Royal Jester
      118. A Career in Letters
      119. The Following Pair
      120. Political Economy
      121. The Unpardonable Sin
      122. Industrial Discontent
      123. Tempora Mutantur
      124. A False Alarm
      125. Contentment
      126. Constancy
      127. The New Enoch Arden
      128. Disavowal
      129. An Average
      130. Incurable
      131. The Pun
      132. To Nanine
      133. Vice Versa
      134. A Blacklist
      135. Authority
      136. The Psoriad
      137. Peace
      138. Thanksgiving
      139. L’audace
      140. The God’s View-Point
      141. The Aesthetes
      142. With Mine Own Petard
      143. Restored
      144. Sires and Sons
      145. A Challenge
      146. Two Shows
      147. A Poet’s Hope
      148. The Woman and the Devil
      149. Two Rogues
      150. The Pied Piper of Brooklyn
      151. Not Guilty
      152. Presentiment
      153. A Study in Gray
      154. For Merit
      155. A Bit of Science
      156. The Tables Turned
      157. To a Dejected Poet
      158. The Humorist
      159. Montefiore
      160. Discretion
      161. An Exile
      162. The Division Superintendent
      163. To a Professional Eulogist
      164. Election Day
      165. The Militiaman
      166. A Welcome
      167. A Serenade
      168. The Wise and Good
      169. The Lost Colonel
      170. For Tat
      171. A Dilemma
      172. Metempsychosis
      173. The Saint and the Monk
      174. The Opposing Sex
      175. In High Life
      176. A Whipper-in
      177. Judgment
      178. A Bubble
      179. Francine
      180. An Example
      181. Revenge
      182. The Genesis of Embarrassment
      183. In Contumaciam
      184. From the Minutes
      185. A Woman in Politics
      186. A Ballad of Pikeville
      187. An Augury
      188. Lusus Politicus
      189. Bereavement
      190. A Pickbrain
      191. The Naval Constructor
      192. Detected
      193. Bimetalism
      194. Two Methods
      195. Foundations of the State
      196. An Imposter
      197. France
      198. A Guest
      199. A False Prophecy
      200. A Song of the Many
      201. One Morning
      202. The King of Bores
      203. History
      204. The Hermit
      205. The Yearly Lie
      206. An Apologue
      207. Diagnosis
      208. Fallen
      209. Dies Irae
        1. The Day of Wrath
      210. One Mood’s Expression
      211. Something in the Papers
      212. The Binnacle
      213. One President
      214. The Bride
      215. The Man Born Blind
      216. A Nightmare
      217. A Wet Season
      218. The Confederate Flags
      219. Haec Fabula Docet
      220. Again
      221. Homo Podunkensis
      222. A Social Call
      223. My Day of Life
    2. The Scrap Heap
      1. Poesy
      2. Hospitality
      3. Magnanimity
      4. Understated
      5. An Attorney-General
      6. Financial News
      7. Aspiration
      8. Democracy
      9. An Enemy to Law and Order
      10. Foresight
      11. A Fair Division
      12. A Lacking Factor
      13. The Politician
      14. Elihu Root
      15. An Error
      16. Vanished at Cock-Crow
      17. Woman
      18. A Partisan’s Protest
      19. A Bequest to Music
      20. Oneiromancy
      21. July Fourth
      22. A Paradox
      23. Reedified
      24. A Bulletin
      25. An Inscription
      26. An Erroneous Assumption
      27. A Constructor
      28. God Complies
      29. In Articulo Mortis
      30. The Discoverers
      31. Unexpounded
      32. The Eastern Question
      33. Two Types
      34. To a Critic of Tennyson
      35. Cooperation
      36. Humility
      37. Strained Relations
      38. Exoneration
      39. After Portsmouth
      40. A Voice from Peking
      41. A Pious Rite
      42. Justice
      43. At the Beach
      44. An Infraction of the Rules
      45. Conversely
      46. A Warning
      47. Psychographs
      48. For Wounds
      49. A Literary Method
      50. Back to Nature
      51. Rudolph Block
      52. Boycott
      53. To Her
      54. Creation
      55. Rebuke
      56. Prayer
      57. The Long Fear
      58. An Inspired Performance
      59. Sepulture
    3. Black Beetles in Amber
      1. Preface
      2. Avalon
      3. Cain
      4. One Judge
      5. An Obituarian
      6. A Commuted Sentence
      7. A Lifted Finger
      8. Two Delegates
      9. Matter for Gratitude
      10. Three Kinds of a Rogue
        1. I
        2. II
        3. III
      11. A Man
      12. Ye Foe to Cathaye
      13. Samuel Shortridge
      14. At a “National Encampment”
      15. Theosophistry
      16. Azrael
      17. Competition
      18. A Vision of Doom
      19. Religious Progress
      20. The Fall of Miss Larkin
      21. A Rendezvous
      22. Yorick
      23. Stanford’s Welcome
      24. Posterity’s Award
      25. An Art Critic
      26. The Spirit of a Sponge
      27. Ornithanthropos
      28. To E. S. Salomon
      29. Dennis Kearney
      30. Finis Aeternitatis
      31. The Veteran
      32. An “Exhibit”
      33. The Transmigrations of a Soul
      34. Indictment on Evidence
      35. To an Aspirant
      36. At the White House
      37. Tidings of Good
      38. An Actor
      39. Famine’s Realm
      40. The Mackaiad
      41. A Song in Praise
      42. A Poet’s Father
      43. A Coward
      44. To My Liars
      45. “Phil” Crimmins
      46. On the Scales
      47. Codex Honoris
      48. To W. H. L. B.
      49. Emancipation
      50. Johndonkey
      51. Hell
      52. By False Pretenses
      53. Lucifer of the Torch
      54. “The Whirligig of Time”
      55. A Railroad Lackey
      56. The Legatee
      57. “Died of a Rose”
      58. A Literary Hangman
      59. At the Eleventh Hour
      60. A Controversialist
      61. Mendax
      62. The Retrospective Bird
      63. The Oakland Dog
      64. The Unfallen Brave
      65. A Celebrated Case
      66. Couplets
      67. A Retort
      68. A Vision of Resurrection
      69. Master of Three Arts
      70. Thersites
      71. A Society Leader
      72. Expositor Veritatis
      73. The Troubadour
      74. A Finger on the Lips
      75. Three Highwaymen
      76. To “Colonel” Dan Burns
      77. George A. Knight
      78. Unarmed
      79. A Political Violet
      80. The Subdued Editor
      81. “Black Bart, Po8”
      82. A “Scion of Nobility”
      83. The Night of Election
      84. The Convicts’ Ball
      85. A Prayer
      86. To One Detested
      87. The Boss’s Choice
      88. A Merciful Governor
      89. An Interpretation
      90. A Soaring Toad
      91. An Undress Uniform
      92. The Perverted Village
      93. Mr. Sheets
      94. A Jack-at-All-Views
      95. My Lord Poet
      96. To the Fool-Killer
      97. One and One Are Two
      98. Montague Leverson
      99. The Woeful Tale of Mr. Peters
      100. Twin Unworthies
      101. Art
      102. A War Cry
      103. In Dissuasion
      104. A Prediction
      105. Another Plan
      106. A Political Apostate
      107. Tinker Dick
      108. A Peaceful Community
      109. With a Book
      110. A Competitor
      111. Generosity
      112. Bats in Sunshine
      113. A Word to the Unwise
      114. On the Platform
      115. Judge Not
      116. Desperation
      117. To Dog
      118. To a Grabber
      119. Memorial Day
      120. A Dampened Ardor
      121. Adair Welcker, Poet
      122. To a Word-Warrior
      123. A Culinary Candidate
      124. To One Acquitted
      125. Content
      126. At the Observatory
      127. The Oleomargarine Man
      128. The Genesis of Crime
      129. Llewellyn Powell
      130. The Sunset Gun
      131. The Viduate Dame
      132. Four of a Kind
        1. Robert F. Morrow
        2. Alfred Clarke, Jr.
        3. Judge Rutledge
        4. W. H. L. Barnes
      133. Reconciliation
      134. A Vision of Climate
      135. A “Mass” Meeting
      136. The New Dennis
      137. A Rational Anthem
      138. Incivism
      139. Famine in Prosperity
      140. An Epigrammatist
      141. Fig Leaf
      142. For President, Leland Stanford
      143. For Mayor
      144. A Mine for Reformers
      145. In Pickle
      146. James Montague, Poet
      147. A Cheating Preacher
      148. A Crocodile
      149. The American Party
      150. Uncoloneled
      151. The Gates Ajar
      152. To a Bully
      153. A Land Fight
      154. Compliance
      155. Arboriculture
      156. A Holiday
      157. Rejected
      158. Judex Judicatus
      159. On the Wedding of an Aeronaut
      160. A Hasty Inference
      161. A Voluptuary
      162. Ad Cattonum
      163. The National Guardsman
      164. The Barking Weasel
      165. A Rear Elevation
      166. In Upper San Francisco
      167. Nimrod
      168. The New Decalogue
      169. Ultra Crepidam
      170. Censor Literarum
      171. Borrowed Brains
      172. Ye Fyghtynge Seventh
      173. Indicted
      174. Over the Border
      175. To an Insolent Attorney
      176. Accepted
      177. A Promised Fast Train
      178. From the Death-Column
      179. The Farmer’s Prayer
      180. One of the Saints
      181. A Military Incident
      182. Substance or Shadow
      183. The Committee on Public Morals
      184. A Playwright
      185. The Leader of the Minority
      186. California
      187. George C. Perkins
      188. To Either
      189. Disappointment
      190. The Valley of the Shadow of Theft
      191. Down Among the Dead Men
      192. The Last Man
      193. Arbor Day
      194. The Piute
      195. Fame
      196. One of the Redeemed
      197. A Critic
      198. A Question of Eligibility
      199. Fleet Strother
      200. Reciprocity
      201. Californian Summer Pictures
        1. The Foot-Hill Resort
        2. The In-Coming Climate
        3. A Long-Felt Want
        4. To the Happy Hunting Grounds
      202. Slander
      203. James L. Flood
      204. Three Candidates for Senator
      205. A Growler
      206. Ad Moodium
      207. A Spade
      208. The Van Nessiad
      209. Valedictory
      210. A Fish Commissioner
      211. To a Stray Dog
      212. In His Hand
      213. A Demagogue
      214. Ignis Fatuus
      215. From Top to Bottom
      216. An Idler
      217. The Dead King
      218. A Patter Song
      219. A Caller
      220. The Shafter Shafted
      221. To One Out of Favor
      222. Privation
      223. To One in Custody
      224. For a Revised Version
      225. The Mormon Question
      226. An Election Expense
      227. William F. Smith
      228. Juventus Mundi
      229. Two Guides
      230. In Warning
      231. Apparition
      232. A Creditable Collision
      233. An Emigrant
      234. Contempt of Court
      235. A Partial Eclipse
    4. On Stone: Some Ante-Mortem Epitaphs
      1. I: George Francis Train
      2. II: A King of Craft
      3. III: Stephen Dorsey
      4. IV: Mr. Justice Field
      5. V: General B. F. Butler
      6. VI: Reparation
      7. VII: Disincorporated
      8. VIII: A Kit
      9. IX: Disjunctus
      10. X: A Trencher-Knight
      11. XI: A Vice-President
      12. XII: A Wasted Life
      13. XIII: Loring Pickering
      14. XIV: A Water-Pirate
      15. XV: C. P. Berry
      16. XVI: The Rev. Joseph Hemphill
      17. XVII
      18. XVIII
      19. XIX
      20. XX
      21. XXI
      22. XXII
      23. XXIII
      24. XXIV
      25. XXV
      26. XXVI
      27. XXVII
      28. XXVIII
      29. XXIX
      30. XXX
      31. XXXI
      32. XXXII
      33. XXXIII
      34. XXXIV
      35. XXXV
      36. XXXVI
      37. XXXVII
      38. XXXVIII
      39. XXXIX
      40. XL
      41. XLI
      42. XLII
      43. XLIII
      44. XLIV
    5. Uncollected Verse
      1. Basilica
      2. A Mystery
      3. Rosalie
      4. To Thee, My Darling
      5. Serenade
      6. Science
    6. The Mummery
      1. The Two Cavees
      2. Metempsychosis
      3. Slickens
      4. “Peaceful Expulsion”
      5. Aspirants Three
      6. The Birth of the Rail
      7. A Bad Night
    7. The Fiend’s Delight
      1. Poesy
        1. Ye Idyll of Ye Hippopopotamus
        2. Jerusalem, Old and New
        3. Communing with Nature
        4. Conservatism and Progress
        5. Inter Arma Silent Leges
        6. Quintessence
        7. Resurgam
      2. Musings, Philosophical and Theological
        1. I
        2. II
        3. III
        4. IV
        5. V
        6. VI
        7. VII
        8. VIII
        9. IX
        10. X
        11. XI
        12. XII
        13. XIII
        14. XIV
        15. XV
        16. XVI
        17. XVII
        18. XVIII
        19. XIX
        20. XX
        21. XXI
        22. XXII
        23. XXIII
        24. XXIV
        25. XXV
        26. XXVI
        27. XXVII
        28. XXVIII
        29. XXIX
        30. XXX
        31. XXXI
        32. XXXII
        33. XXXIII
        34. XXXIV
      3. Laughorisms
        1. I
        2. II
        3. III
        4. IV
        5. V
        6. VI
        7. VII
        8. VIII
        9. IX
        10. X
        11. XI
        12. XII
        13. XIII
        14. XIV
        15. XV
        16. XVI
        17. XVII
        18. XVIII
        19. XIX
        20. XX
        21. XXI
        22. XXII
        23. XXIII
        24. XXIV
        25. XXV
        26. XXVI
        27. XXVII
        28. XXVIII
        29. XXIX
        30. XXX
        31. XXXI
        32. XXXII
        33. XXXIII
        34. XXXIV
        35. XXXV
        36. XXXVI
        37. XXXVII
        38. XXXVIII
        39. XXXIX
        40. XL
        41. XLI
        42. XLII
        43. XLIII
        44. XLIV
    8. Epigrams
      1. I
      2. II
      3. III
      4. IV
      5. V
      6. VI
      7. VII
      8. VIII
      9. IX
      10. X
      11. XI
      12. XII
      13. XIII
      14. XIV
      15. XV
      16. XVI
      17. XVII
      18. XVIII
      19. XIX
      20. XX
      21. XXI
      22. XXII
      23. XXIII
      24. XXIV
      25. XXV
      26. XXVI
      27. XXVII
      28. XXVIII
      29. XXIX
      30. XXX
      31. XXXI
      32. XXXII
      33. XXXIII
      34. XXXIV
      35. XXXV
      36. XXXVI
      37. XXXVII
      38. XXXVIII
      39. XXXIX
      40. XL
      41. XLI
      42. XLII
      43. XLIII
      44. XLIV
      45. XLV
      46. XLVI
      47. XLVII
      48. XLVIII
      49. XLIX
      50. L
      51. LI
      52. LII
      53. LIII
      54. LIV
      55. LV
      56. LVI
      57. LVII
      58. LVIII
      59. LIX
      60. LX
      61. LXI
      62. LXII
      63. LXIII
      64. LXIV
      65. LXV
      66. LXVI
      67. LXVII
      68. LXVIII
      69. LXIX
      70. LXX
      71. LXXI
      72. LXXII
      73. LXXIII
      74. LXXIV
      75. LXXV
      76. LXXVI
      77. LXXVII
      78. LXXVIII
      79. LXXIX
      80. LXXX
      81. LXXXI
      82. LXXXII
      83. LXXXIII
      84. LXXXIV
      85. LXXXV
      86. LXXXVI
      87. LXXXVII
      88. LXXXVIII
      89. LXXXIX
      90. XC
      91. XCI
      92. XCII
      93. XCIII
      94. XCIV
      95. XCV
      96. XCVI
      97. XCVII
      98. XCVIII
      99. XCIX
      100. C
      101. CI
      102. CII
      103. CIII
      104. CIV
      105. CV
      106. CVI
      107. CVII
      108. CVIII
      109. CIX
      110. CX
      111. CXI
      112. CXII
      113. CXIII
      114. CXIV
      115. CXV
      116. CXVI
      117. CXVII
      118. CXVIII
      119. CXIX
      120. CXX
      121. CXXI
      122. CXXII
      123. CXXIII
      124. CXXIV
      125. CXXV
      126. CXXVI
      127. CXXVII
      128. CXXVIII
      129. CXXIX
      130. CXXX
      131. CXXXI
      132. CXXXII
      133. CXXXIII
      134. CXXXIV
      135. CXXXV
      136. CXXXVI
      137. CXXXVII
      138. CXXXVIII
      139. CXXXIX
      140. CXL
      141. CXLI
      142. CXLII
      143. CXLIII
      144. CXLIV
      145. CXLV
      146. CXLVI
      147. CXLVII
      148. CXLVIII
      149. CXLIX
      150. CL
      151. CLI
      152. CLII
      153. CLIII
      154. CLIV
      155. CLV
      156. CLVI
      157. CLVII
      158. CLVIII
      159. CLIX
      160. CLX
      161. CLXI
      162. CLXII
      163. CLXIII
      164. CLXIV
      165. CLXV
      166. CLXVI
      167. CLXVII
      168. CLXVIII
      169. CLXIX
      170. CLXX
      171. CLXXI
      172. CLXXII
      173. CLXXIII
      174. CLXXIV
      175. CLXXV
      176. CLXXVI
      177. CLXXVII
      178. CLXXVIII
      179. CLXXIX
      180. CLXXX
      181. CLXXXI
      182. CLXXXII
      183. CLXXXIII
      184. CLXXXIV
      185. CLXXXV
      186. CLXXXVI
      187. CLXXXVII
      188. CLXXXVIII
      189. CLXXXIX
      190. CXC
      191. CXCI
      192. CXCII
      193. CXCIII
      194. CXCIV
      195. CXCV
      196. CXCVI
      197. CXCVII
      198. CXCVIII
      199. CXCIX
      200. CC
      201. CCI
      202. CCII
      203. CCIII
      204. CCIV
      205. CCV
      206. CCVI
      207. CCVII
      208. CCVIII
      209. CCIX
      210. CCX
      211. CCXI
      212. CCXII
      213. CCXIII
      214. CCXIV
      215. CCXV
      216. CCXVI
      217. CCXVII
      218. CCXVIII
      219. CCXIX
      220. CCXX
      221. CCXXI
      222. CCXXII
      223. CCXXIII
      224. CCXXIV
      225. CCXXV
      226. CCXXVI
      227. CCXXVII
      228. CCXXVIII
      229. CCXXIX
      230. CCXXX
      231. CCXXXI
      232. CCXXXII
      233. CCXXXIII
      234. CCXXXIV
      235. CCXXXV
      236. CCXXXVI
      237. CCXXXVII
      238. CCXXXVIII
      239. CCXXXIX
      240. CCXL
      241. CCXLI
      242. CCXLII
      243. CCXLIII
      244. CCXLIV
      245. CCXLV
      246. CCXLVI
      247. CCXLVII
      248. CCXLVIII
      249. CCXLIX
      250. CCL
      251. CCLI
      252. CCLII
      253. CCLIII
      254. CCLIV
      255. CCLV
      256. CCLVI
      257. CCLVII
      258. CCLVIII
  4. Endnotes
  5. Colophon
  6. Uncopyright

Edition & source

This edition was prepared by Standard Ebooks. The original EPUB, typography, credits, imprint, colophon and copyright information are retained.

SOURCE PUBLICATION DATE
2022-09-26
SOURCE EDITION UPDATED
2026-08-04
ADDED TO iREADALL
2026-10-13
Edition contributors
  • The League of Moveable Type (tyd)
  • Ambrose Bierce (ann, aut, dto, wpr)
  • John Linnell (art)
  • Rick Niles (trc)
  • Kat Jeter (trc)
  • John Hagerson (trc)
  • David Widger (trc)
  • Charles Aldarondo (trc)
  • Leah Moser (trc)
  • Paul Hollander (trc)
  • Govert Schipper (trc)
  • Anonymous (trc)
  • Anonymous (bkp, blw, cov, mrk, pfr, tyg)
  • Emma Sweeney (pfr)
  • David E. Schultz (crr)
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