# A Growler explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator criticizes Judge Shafter for his constant, ill-tempered scolding and cursing in court, comparing his behavior to a jaybird, a howling dog, and a growling bear, and urging him to reform.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The judge's abusive behavior in a position of authority highlights the corruption and hypocrisy within the legal system.

## Character check-ins

### James McMillan Shafter

The judge is directly addressed and criticized for his harsh, cursing demeanor in court.

## Key lines

> Judge Shafter, you’re an aged man, I know, And learned too, I doubt not, in the law; And a head white with many a winter’s snow (I wish, however that your heart would thaw) Claims reverence and honor; but the jaw That’s always wagging with a word malign, Nagging and scolding everyone in sight As harshly as a jaybird in a pine, And with as little sense of wrong and right As animates that irritable creature, Is not a very venerable feature.

Though you are old and knowledgeable in law, your constant, malicious scolding undermines the respect your age should command.

_The narrator contrasts the judge's expected dignity with his actual petty and harsh behavior._

> You damn all witnesses, all jurors too And swear at the attorneys, I suppose, (But that’s a far more righteous thing to do) And what it’s all about, the good Lord knows, Not you; but all the hotter, fiercer glows Your wrath for that⁠—as dogs the louder howl With only moonshine to incite their rage, And bears with more ferocious menace growl, Even when their food is flung into the cage.

You curse everyone in court without understanding the cases, and your anger only grows, like dogs howling at the moon or bears growling even when fed.

_The narrator uses animal metaphors to illustrate the judge's irrational and escalating fury._

> Reform, your Honor, and forbear to curse us. Lest all men, hearing you, cry: “ Ecce ursus! ”

Change your ways, Judge, and stop cursing, or people will call you a bear.

_The final plea for reform ends with a Latin phrase meaning 'Behold the bear,' mocking the judge's growling nature._

## Links

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