# A Challenge explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A bull breaks free from its stall and charges into a washerwoman's yard, where it becomes enraged by a red skirt hanging on a line. A sock inside the garment speaks, challenging the bull and refusing to yield.

## Key lines

> A bull imprisoned in a stall Broke boldly the confining wall, And found himself, when out of bounds, Within a washerwoman’s grounds.

A bull trapped in a stall breaks free and ends up in a washerwoman's yard.

_Sets the scene for the bull's escape and confrontation._

> The garment, which, all undismayed, Had never paled a single shade, Now found a tongue—a dangling sock, Left carelessly inside the smock: “I must insist, my gracious liege, That you’ll be pleased to raise the siege: My colors I will never strike. I know your sex—you’re all alike. Some small experience I’ve had— You’re not the first I’ve driven mad.”

The red skirt, unafraid, is given a voice by a sock left inside it, which defiantly tells the bull to back off, claiming it has dealt with such creatures before.

_The sock personifies the garment, delivering a witty challenge to the bull._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/a-challenge
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters