The rimer quenches his unheeded fires,
 The sound surceases and the sense expires.
 Then the domestic dog, to east and west,
 Expounds the passions burning in his breast.
 The rising moon o'er that enchanted land
 Pauses to hear and yearns to understand.

Note: ‘Rimer’ is simply a synonym for ‘rhymer’ or poet. The word was archaic even in Bierce’s day (of which more later). However, the poem itself follows the Devil’s Dictionary entry for Rimer, which reads “Rimer, n. A poet regarded with indifference or disesteem.” It was attributed to “Mowbray Myles” (a habit Bierce was fond of - see some of the other DD entries)

Bierce could be extremely cutting and cynical when he wanted to (which was practically all the time); however what makes his verse worth running was the skill with which his diatribes were delivered.

Note how wonderfully he sets up and skewers his target here. The surface metaphor in the first four lines is, of course, hardly new or original. But Bierce then goes on to invoke the moon, with its strong associations with both poets and howling dogs, which at once raises the insult above the level of the commonplace - in one stroke, it provides completion and coherence, turning a derogatory comparision into a finished poem.

Nor does he stop there - the language throughout is ‘poetic’, but in a rather self-conscious way, treading the fine line between good and bad poetry¹ and not-so-subtly poking fun at the poet manqué. The final touch is the use of ‘rimer’ rather than ‘rhymer’, an obvious affectation² that merely highlights the difference between aspiration and reality.

Agreeing sounds in the terminals of verse, mostly bad. The verses themselves, as distinguished from prose, mostly dull. Usually (and wickedly) spelled “rhyme.”

— Martin

Links

We’ve run one other poem by Bierce; see poem #148

There’s also a biography at the end.

The above poem is included in Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary, which may be found at http://rabi.phys.columbia.edu/~matmat/html/devils.html