# An Enemy to Law and Order explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A satirical quatrain illustrating the hypocrisy of property and law, where a chain of theft and fraud culminates in the victim being labeled an anarchist by the last in the series of wrongdoers.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The poem exposes the hypocrisy of those who commit fraud and theft yet label the defrauded victim an anarchist.

### Political Satire

A satirical critique of how power and property are manipulated, with the final line mocking the mislabeling of the dispossessed.

## Key lines

> A is defrauded of his land by B, Who’s driven from the premises by C. D buys the place with coin of plundered E. “That A’s an Anarchist!” says F to G.

A loses his land through fraud by B, who is then forced out by C. D purchases the property using money stolen from E. Finally, F tells G that A is an anarchist.

_The paraphrase clarifies the chain of corruption and the ironic accusation against the original victim._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/an-enemy-to-law-and-order
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters