# Slickens explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

A satirical play in verse about a mining operation that floods farms with slickens (mining waste), featuring a granger who lost his family and farm, and a committee that arrives to investigate but offers no real help.

## Themes in this chapter

### Political Satire

The play mocks politicians, lawyers, and committees who exploit the system for personal gain while ignoring the suffering of ordinary people.

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

Characters like Nozzle, Ringdivvy, and Feegobble openly discuss bribery, assessments, and legal manipulation as normal practice.

### Justice and Revenge

Hayseed seeks recompense for his destroyed farm and family, but the committee offers only empty promises.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator is not present; the chapter is a play with distinct characters.

## Key lines

> For still the law Holds that if one do evil undisturbed His right to do so ripens with the years; And one may be a villain long enough To make himself an honest gentleman.

The law allows a wrongdoer to become legitimate simply by persisting in wrongdoing long enough.

_Satirizes the legal concept of adverse possession or prescription applied to moral corruption._

> Could slickens forever Choke up the river, And slime's endeavor Be tried on grain, How small the measure Of granger's treasure, How keen his pain!

If mining waste keeps ruining the river and crops, the farmer's wealth will be tiny and his suffering immense.

_Highlights the environmental and economic devastation caused by mining debris._

> O bribery's great— 'Tis a pillar of State, And the people they are free!

Bribery is celebrated as a foundation of government, and the people are supposedly free.

_Sarcastic commentary on political corruption._

## Links

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