# Down Among the Dead Men explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator, buried in a grave, overhears the poet Bashford attempting to exhume his remains. Bashford laments his lost fame and the oblivion that has swallowed his reputation, while the narrator rebukes him. The poem ends with Bashford revealing he is not trying to remove the remains but to join them in the grave.

## Themes in this chapter

### Mortality and Regret

The poem explores the narrator's death and the poet Bashford's regret over his lost fame and the oblivion of his legacy.

### Art and Criticism

Bashford's lament about his literary fame and the public's forgetfulness reflects on the fleeting nature of artistic recognition.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The deceased narrator, buried in a grave, who speaks from beyond the grave.

### Picklepip

Referred to as 'Mouldyshanks' by Bashford, the poet attempting to exhume the narrator's remains.

## Key lines

> Good Heaven! with what a hunger wild Oblivion swallows fame!

Heaven, how fiercely oblivion consumes fame!

_Bashford expresses his despair over how quickly his reputation has been forgotten._

> I come not here to hale you out⁠— I'm trying to get in.

I am not here to pull you out—I am trying to get in.

_Bashford reveals his true intention is to join the narrator in death, not to disturb him._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/down-among-the-dead-men
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters