# An Obituarian explained — Poetry > Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce. ## What happens A satirical poem about a newspaper obituary poet who is paid to write mournful verses for a widower, only for the supposedly dead wife to return to life, leaving the poet unpaid and lamenting his own sorrow. ## Themes in this chapter ### Hypocrisy and Corruption The death-poet's mercenary attitude and the widower's attempt to avoid payment highlight the hypocrisy and corruption in mourning rituals. ### Deception and Self-Deception The widower deceives the poet about his wife's death, and the poet deceives himself about the sincerity of his grief. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown The narrator describes the scene of the death-poet and the widower. ### Picklepip Implied as the death-poet, referred to as 'The Bard of Mortality' who writes obituary verses. ## Key lines > A newspaper Death-poet sat at his desk, Wrapped in appropriate gloom; His posture was pensive and picturesque, Like a raven charming a tomb. An obituary writer sat at his desk, looking suitably sad and dramatic, like a raven at a grave. _Introduces the death-poet and his theatrical melancholy._ > For the angels have called my old woman hence From the strife⁠—where she fit mighty free. It’s a nickel a line? Cond⁠⸺⁠n the expense! For wealth is now little to me. The widower claims his wife has died and asks for a poem, saying he doesn't care about the cost. _The widower's initial grief and willingness to pay._ > The widower man which had buried his wife Grew lily-like round each gill, For she turned in her grave and came back to life! Then he cruel ignored the bill. The widower turned pale when his wife returned from the dead, and then refused to pay for the poem. _The twist: the wife is not dead, and the widower avoids payment._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/an-obituarian - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters