# Famine in Prosperity explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

Two monks observe lean cattle on a battlefield, surrounded by abundant dead flesh, and one remarks on the irony of cows starving amidst plenty.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The poem highlights the ironic contradiction of starvation amid abundance, reflecting a deeper hypocrisy in the natural or moral order.

## Key lines

> All flesh is grass—I’m quite confounded That cows should starve by hay surrounded.

All living things are like grass, and I am astonished that cows would starve while surrounded by hay.

_The monk expresses bewilderment at the paradox of starvation in the midst of plenty, using the biblical metaphor 'all flesh is grass' to underscore the irony._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/famine-in-prosperity
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters