Social Commentaries

An Interpretation

by Ambrose Bierce 1842–c. 1914

From Black Beetles in Amber (1892)

Social Commentaries

Now Lonergan appears upon the boards,
And Truth and Error sheathe their lingual swords.
No more in wordy warfare to engage,
The commentators bow before the stage,
And bookworms, militant for ages past,
Confess their equal foolishness at last,
Reread their Shakspeare in the newer light
And swear the meaning's obvious to sight.
For centuries the question has been hot:
Was Hamlet crazy, or was Hamlet not?
Now, Lonergan's illuminating art
Reveals the truth of the disputed "part,"
And shows to all the critics of the earth
That Hamlet was an idiot from birth!

MLA

Bierce, Ambrose. “An Interpretation.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/bierce/69/.

Chicago

Bierce, Ambrose. “An Interpretation.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/bierce/69/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Ambrose Bierce