# LXXXIV explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on Pascal's statement about Cleopatra's nose, arguing that the forces of nature and dynasties could not have altered its length, suggesting a deterministic view of history.

## Key lines

> Pascal says that an inch added to the length of Cleopatra’s nose would have changed the fortunes of the world.

Pascal claims that if Cleopatra's nose had been an inch longer, the course of world history would have been different.

_The narrator introduces Pascal's famous speculative thought experiment._

> But having said this, he has said nothing, for all the forces of nature and all the power of dynasties could not have added an inch to the length of Cleopatra’s nose.

However, this statement is meaningless because neither natural forces nor political power could have actually altered the length of Cleopatra's nose.

_The narrator dismisses Pascal's hypothetical as irrelevant, emphasizing the immutability of what actually occurred._

## Links

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