CARMELITE, n. A mendicant friar of the order of Mount Carmel.As Death was a-rising out one day, Across Mount Camel he took his way, Where he met a mendicant monk, Some three or four quarters drunk, With a holy leer and a pious grin, Ragged and fat and as saucy as sin, Who held out his hands and criedGive, give in Charity's name, I pray. Give in the name of the Church. O give, Give that her holy sons may live And Death replied, Smiling long and wideI'll give, holy father, I'll give thee --a ride.With a rattle and bang Of his bones, he sprang From his famous Pale Horse, with his spear By the neck and the foot Seized the fellow, and put Him astride with his face to the rear.The Monarch laughed loud with a sound that fell Like clods on the coffin's sounding shellHo, ho A beggar on horseback, they say, Will ride to the devil --and thump Fell the flat of his dart on the rump Of the charger, which galloped away.Faster and faster and faster it flew, Till the rocks and the flocks and the trees that grew By the road were dim and blended and blue To the wild, wild eyes Of the rider --in size Resembling a couple of blackberry pies. Death laughed again, as a tomb might laugh At a burial service spoiled, And the mourners' intentions foiled By the body erecting Its head and objecting To further proceedings in its behalf.Many a year and many a day Have passed since these events away. The monk has long been a dusty corse, And Death has never recovered his horse. For the friar got hold of its tail, And steered it within the pale Of the monastery gray, Where the beast was stabled and fed With barley and oil and bread Till fatter it grew than the fattest friar, And so in due course was appointed Prior. --G.J.
More Quotes from Ambrose Gwinett Bierce:
GENTEEL, adj. Refined, after the fashion of a gent.Observe with care, my son, the distinction I reveal A gentleman is gentle and a gent genteel. Heed not the definitions your Unabridged presents, For dictionary makers are generally gents. --G.J.Ambrose Gwinett Bierce
FAMOUS, adj. Conspicuously miserable.Done to a turn on the iron, behold Him who to be famous aspired. Content Well, his grill has a plating of gold, And his twistings are greatly admired. --Hassan Brubuddy
Ambrose Gwinett Bierce
Early one June morning in 1872 I murdered my father - an act which made a deep impression on me at the time
Ambrose Gwinett Bierce
Habit The shackles of the free.
Ambrose Gwinett Bierce
EUCHARIST, n. A sacred feast of the religious sect of Theophagi. A dispute once unhappily arose among the members of this sect as to what it was that they ate. In this controversy some five hundred thousand have already been slain, and the question is still unsettled.
Ambrose Gwinett Bierce
PALM, n. A species of tree having several varieties, of which the familiar itching palm (Palma hominis) is most widely distributed and sedulously cultivated. This noble vegetable exudes a kind of invisible gum, which may be detected by applying to the bark a piece of gold or silver. The metal will adhere with remarkable tenacity. The fruit of the itching palm is so bitter and unsatisfying that a considerable percentage of it is sometimes given away in what are known as benefactions.
Ambrose Gwinett Bierce
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Based on Topics: Body Quotes, Christianity Quotes, Death & Dying Quotes, Devils Quotes, Fathers Quotes, Horse Quotes, Name Quotes, Nature Quotes, Sin Quotes, Smiling Quotes, Sons QuotesBased on Keywords: astride, barley, carmelite, charger, clods, coffins, corse, erecting, fatter, fattest, foiled, friar, galloped, leer, mendicant, monarch, monastery, mourners, objecting, pies, rump, saucy, steered, thump
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