# Nimrod explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The chapter reflects on the great hunters and talkers of the past, such as Nimrod, Actaeon, and Bahram-Gur, contrasting their legendary feats with the diminished possibilities of the present. It laments that while there is still much to kill, there is nothing left to tell, suggesting a loss of epic storytelling and heroic achievement.

## Themes in this chapter

### Art and Criticism

The chapter contrasts past heroic narratives with the present inability to create new stories, critiquing the loss of epic art and storytelling.

### Nature and Artifice

The hunters' prowess in overtaking stags and felling lions highlights a primal connection to nature, now overshadowed by a sense of depletion and artifice.

## Key lines

> There were brave men, someone has truly said, Before Atrides (those were mostly dead Behind him) and long ages ere you were Actaeon lived, Nimrod and Bahram-Gur.

Brave hunters existed long before the heroes of the Trojan War, and even earlier figures like Actaeon, Nimrod, and Bahram-Gur lived before your time.

_Establishes the historical and mythological lineage of great hunters._

> Ah, yes, great hunters flourished before you, And⁠—for Munchausen lived⁠—great talkers too.

Indeed, there were once great hunters, and also great storytellers, as exemplified by Baron Munchausen.

_Links hunting prowess with the art of storytelling._

> There’ll be no more; there’s much to kill, but⁠—well, You have left nothing in the world to tell!

There will be no more such figures; although there is still plenty to hunt, there is nothing left worth narrating.

_Expresses a sense of narrative exhaustion and the decline of epic tales._

## Links

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