# A Lifted Finger explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The chapter is a vitriolic poetic attack on M. H. de Young and his newspaper, accusing him of hypocrisy, corruption, and murderous slander. The narrator threatens de Young with vengeance and a grim future, invoking blood, crime, and the image of his eventual downfall.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

De Young is accused of whipping rascals while being a far worse criminal himself.

### Justice and Revenge

The narrator calls for vengeance for a woman slandered to death and threatens de Young with a violent end.

## Character check-ins

### Mike de Young

Target of the poem's attack, accused of being a corrupt rascal and murderer.

### Unknown

The speaker who condemns de Young and recalls being called a friend by a murdered woman.

## Key lines

> You whip a rascal out of office?⁠— you Whose leadless weapon once ignobly blew Its smoke in six directions to assert Your lack of appetite for others’ dirt?

You claim to drive out corrupt officials, but your own gun misfired harmlessly, proving you are a coward.

_Accuses de Young of hypocrisy and cowardice._

> A woman’s blood, through roses ever red, Mutely appeals for vengeance on your head. Slandered to death to serve a sordid end, She called you murderer and called me friend.

The blood of a woman you slandered to death cries out for revenge; she named you a murderer and me a friend.

_References a specific murder and calls for retribution._

## Links

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