# Constancy explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

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