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1842–1914

TO ONE DETESTED

Ambrose Bierce

Sir, you're a veteran, revealed In history and fable As warrior since you took the field, Defeating Abel.

As Commissary later ( or If not, in every cottage The tale is ) you contracted for A mess of pottage.

In civil life you were, we read ( And our respect increases ) A man of peace — a man, indeed, Of thirty pieces.

To paying taxes when you turned Your mind, or what you call so, A wide celebrity you earned — Saphira also.

In every age, by various names, You've won renown in story, But on your present record flames A greater glory.

Cain, Esau, and Iscariot, too, And Ananias, likewise, Each had peculiar powers, but who Could lie as Mike lies?

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TO ONE DETESTED · Ambrose Bierce · Poetry Cove