Death & Dying

An Inscription

by Ambrose Bierce 1842–c. 1914

From Shapes of Clay (1903)

Death & Dying

A famous conqueror, in battle brave,
Who robbed the cradle to supply the grave.
His reign laid quantities of human dust:
He fell upon the just and the unjust.

✦ ✦ ✦

For a statue of Napoleon, at West Point.

MLA

Bierce, Ambrose. “An Inscription.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/bierce/366/.

Chicago

Bierce, Ambrose. “An Inscription.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/bierce/366/.

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