# A Vision of Doom explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator stands on a hill overlooking a cursed, desolate landscape, haunted by a sense of crime and guilt. A voice reveals that the narrator is a ghost in a phantom world—the remnant of a dead poet's dream. The poet once prophesied the destruction of a beautiful, corrupt city where murder and greed reigned and the law failed. The narrator asks if the prophecy was fulfilled, but receives no answer, then wakes weeping and crying out to God.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The poet's prophecy condemns a city where murder and greed flourish, the people ignore injustice, and the law fails to act.

### Mortality and Regret

The narrator is a dead soul in a void, weeping over the desolation and the poet's unfulfilled prophecy.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator experiences a vision of doom, standing on a hill as a ghost in a dead poet's dream.

## Key lines

> I stood upon a hill. The setting sun Was crimson with a curse and a portent

The narrator stands on a hill as the sunset glows red, signaling doom.

_Opening image of the vision._

> The shadow of a poet’s dream—himself As thou, his soul as thine, long dead, But not like thine outlasted by its shade.

The narrator is merely the shadow of a poet's dream, and both the poet and the narrator are long dead.

_Revelation of the narrator's ghostly nature._

> Red-handed murder rioted; and there The people gathered gold, nor cared to loose The assassin’s fingers from the victim’s throat

In the city, murder runs rampant while people focus on accumulating wealth, ignoring the violence.

_Description of the city's corruption._

> Then the great poet, touched upon the lips With a live coal from Truth’s high altar, raised His arms to heaven and sang a song of doom

The poet, inspired by divine truth, prophesies the city's destruction.

_The poet's prophecy._

> And, covering my face with thin, dead hands, I wept, and woke, and cried aloud to God!

The narrator weeps, wakes from the vision, and cries out to God.

_Conclusion of the vision._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/a-vision-of-doom
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters