Skip to content
Linespedia

To The Bartholdi Statue

By Ambrose Bierce

Topics: classic

O Liberty, God-gifted, Young and immortal maid, In your high hand uplifted, The torch declares your trade. Its crimson menace, flaming Upon the sea and shore, Is, trumpet-like, proclaiming That Law shall be no more. Austere incendiary, We're blinking in the light; Where is your customary Grenade of dynamite? Where are your staves and switches For men of gentle birth? Your mask and dirk for riches? Your chains for wit and worth? Perhaps, you've brought the halters You used in the old days, When round religion's altars You stabled Cromwell's bays? Behind you, unsuspected, Have you the axe, fair wench, Wherewith you once collected A poll-tax for the French? America salutes you, Preparing to "disgorge." Take everything that suits you, And marry Henry George.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"O Liberty, God-gifted,..."

Exploring the themes of classic, Ambrose Bierce delivers a powerful performance in "To The Bartholdi Statue"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:Ambrose Bierce

"O Liberty, God-gifted,..." by Ambrose Bierce

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"Day of Satan's painful duty! Earth shall vanish, hot and sooty; So says Virtue, so says Beauty. Ah! what terror shall be shaping When the Ju"

"Once I seen a human ruin In a elevator-well. And his members was bestrewin' All the place where he had fell. And I says, apostrophisin' That unc"

"Have but one God: thy knees were sore If bent in prayer to three or four. Adore no images save those The coinage of thy country shows. Take not"

"Once I seen a human ruin In a elevator-well. And his members was bestrewin' All the place where he had fell. And I says, apostrophisin' That uncommon"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Ambrose Bierce

About Ambrose Bierce

Ambrose Bierce (1842–c. 1914) was an American satirist, journalist, and poet. His "Devil's Dictionary" and Civil War stories are classics of dark humor. He disappeared mysteriously in Mexico.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"Day of Satan's painful duty! Earth shall vanish, ..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.