# A Bequest to Music explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A brief chapter in which a man declares 'Let music flourish!' and dies, after which a grand symphony of lawyers begins, their chins creating melodious thunders.

## Themes in this chapter

### Art and Criticism

The chapter celebrates music as an art form, with the dying man's bequest to music and the subsequent symphonic tribute by lawyers.

### Mortality and Regret

The chapter opens with a death scene, where the final words of the dying man are a command for music to flourish.

## Key lines

> Let music flourish! So he said and died.

He declared that music should thrive, and then he passed away.

_The dying man's final bequest is for music to prosper._

> The grand old lawyers, chinning on their chins!

The esteemed lawyers create music by humming or singing with their chins.

_A humorous image of lawyers producing a symphony through chin movements._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/a-bequest-to-music
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters