# A Vision of Resurrection explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator dreams of a desolate earth where all graves but one are open, having disgorged their dead for judgment. A voice explains that a million years have passed since the resurrection began, and only one soul remains. The final grave opens, revealing Deacon George K. Fitch, who rises with a superior smile and ascends to heaven.

## Themes in this chapter

### Mortality and Regret

The dream depicts the aftermath of death on a cosmic scale, with all graves emptied and only the final sinner's trial lingering, emphasizing the finality and judgment of mortal life.

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

Deacon Fitch, a holy man by his epitaph, rises with a 'superior' smile, hinting at a gap between public piety and true virtue, a common satirical target.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The dreamer who witnesses the post-resurrection landscape and the final rising of Deacon Fitch.

### Deacon Fitch

The last soul to rise from the grave, a deacon and editor whose headstone proclaims him a holy man who 'fell asleep in Jesus.'

## Key lines

> A million years have rolled away since here / His sheeted multitudes (save only some / Whose dark misdeeds required a separate / And individual arraigning) rose / To judgment at the trumpet’s summoning

A million years have passed since most of humanity rose for judgment, except for a few whose sins were so great they needed a separate trial.

_The voice explains the timeline of the resurrection, highlighting the exceptional delay for the most sinful._

> That single rounded mound cracked lengthliwise / And one came forth in grave-clothes. For a space / He stood and gazed about him with a smile Superior

The last grave split open and a figure in burial clothes emerged, pausing to look around with a smug expression.

_The final resurrection of Deacon Fitch, depicted with a condescending demeanor._

> Sacred to memory of George K. Fitch, / Deacon and Editor—a holy man / Who fell asleep in Jesus, full of years / And blessedness. The dead in Christ rise first.

The headstone reads: In memory of George K. Fitch, a deacon and editor, a holy man who died peacefully in faith, full of years and blessing. The dead in Christ rise first.

_The epitaph on Fitch's tombstone, which ironically contrasts with his smug behavior._

## Links

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