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1842–1914

A NIGHTMARE.

Ambrose Bierce

I dreamed that I was dead. The years went by: The world forgot that such a man as I Had ever lived and written: other names Were hailed with homage, in their turn to die.

Out of my grave a giant beech upgrew. Its roots transpierced my body, through and through, My substance fed its growth. From many lands Men came in troops that giant tree to view.

‘ T was sacred to my memory and fame — My monument. But Allen Forman came, Filled with the fervor of a new untruth, And carved upon the trunk his odious name!

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A NIGHTMARE. · Ambrose Bierce · Poetry Cove