# In Memoriam explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator mourns the death of his beloved cat, Beauty, reflecting on her personality and their bond. He imagines her enjoying a blissful afterlife of luxurious food, while expressing his belief that the human spirit rots in the ground, a creed he holds until his own death.

## Themes in this chapter

### Mortality and Regret

The narrator mourns the death of his cat and contemplates the fate of the human spirit versus that of animals.

## Character check-ins

### Beauty John

The narrator's beloved Angora cat, now deceased, remembered for her boldness and affection.

### Unknown

The narrator who mourns Beauty and reflects on mortality and his personal creed.

## Key lines

> I loved her well, and I’m proud that she Wasn’t indifferent, quite, to me; In fact I have sometimes gone so far (You know, mesdames, how silly men are) As to think she preferred—excuse the conceit— My legs upon which to sharpen her feet.

The narrator loved his cat and believed she showed affection by using his legs as a scratching post.

_Reveals the narrator's sentimental attachment to Beauty._

> But the human spirit—that is my creed— Rots in the ground like a barren seed. That is my creed, abhorred by Man But approved by Cat since time began.

The narrator believes that while cats enjoy an afterlife, the human spirit simply decays after death.

_Expresses the narrator's unconventional and cynical view on human mortality._

## Links

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