# An Exile explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A census enumerator laments his forced rural exile, singing of agricultural life while bearing physical wounds and expressing his alienation from both town and country.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and Artifice

The enumerator's forced connection to rural life contrasts with his urban identity, highlighting the tension between natural and constructed worlds.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The census enumerator, singing forlornly about his exile and bearing blood on his brow and hair.

## Key lines

> Some there must be to till the soil / And the widow's weeds keep down. / I wasn't cut out for rural toil / But they won't let me live in town!

The enumerator acknowledges that farming is necessary, but feels unsuited for it and is barred from returning to the city.

_Expresses the central conflict of the chapter: the enumerator's exile and sense of displacement._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/an-exile
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters