# A Peaceful Community explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on Lone Mountain's cemetery, contrasting the peaceful dead with the living's chaos, and satirically suggests the dead would govern better than current authorities.

## Themes in this chapter

### Political Satire

The narrator satirizes the living's violence and corruption, suggesting the dead would be better rulers.

### Mortality and Regret

The cemetery setting contrasts the peace of death with the strife of life, hinting at regret for societal failings.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator observes the cemetery and muses on the dead's peace versus societal turmoil.

## Key lines

> Long live the dead! Since they prefer to live Within the law, it is a monstrous pity That early legislation did not give Them the authority to rule this city.

The dead are law-abiding, so it's a shame they weren't given the power to govern the city.

_Satirical praise for the dead as ideal rulers._

## Links

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