Poetry · Chapter
Constancy explained
The narrator dreams of a grotesque chase where a crowd kicks the head of Bryan like a ball.
What happens
The narrator dreams of a grotesque chase where a crowd kicks the head of Bryan like a ball. He observes that the two most constant followers are the Devil and Hearst, then in a moment of shame, he gives the head a final kick skyward and leaves the game.
Themes in this chapter
Political Satire
The dream sequence uses the grotesque image of kicking Bryan's head to satirize political loyalty and the brutal nature of partisan pursuit.
Deception and Self-Deception
The narrator's sudden shame and departure from the chase suggest a moment of self-awareness about his own complicity in the degrading spectacle.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The dreamer who joins the chase and ultimately kicks Bryan's head skyward before quitting.
- Jack Satan
Identified as one of the 'twins of constancy' in the chase after Bryan's head.
- William Perry Peters
Referenced as 'Hearst' (William Randolph Hearst), the other twin of constancy in the dream.
Key passages
“A throng of people sped / Hard after something that before them fled— / A ball that leapt and bounded. I pursued, / Kicking, like all the rest, at Bryan’s head.”
A crowd chased a bouncing object; the narrator joined them in kicking Bryan's head like a ball.
Opens the dream with a surreal, violent political allegory.
“Ever the foremost in the chase accurst / Ran Two who in his life, too, had been first / Among his followers. “Behold,” I cried, / “Those twins of constancy, the Devil and Hearst!””
The two leaders of the chase were the Devil and Hearst, who were also Bryan's most loyal followers in life.
Identifies the 'twins of constancy' as Satan and Hearst, linking political loyalty to demonic forces.
“Smitten in spirit with a sudden shame. / And from intemperate exertion lame, / I sprang, and skyward with a parting kick / Hoisted that mellow bulb, and left the game.”
Struck by shame and exhausted, the narrator gave Bryan's head one last kick upward and quit the chase.
The narrator's exit from the dream reflects a moral awakening or disillusionment.