# The Weather Wight explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator struggles through a dark, stormy night, hears the ocean's roar, and prays for mariners. A mysterious voice offers shelter, leading him to a hovel where a thin old man explains he runs a Weather Bureau using only his corns to forecast the weather, scornful of instruments. The narrator's skeptical questions provoke the old man's angry retreat when he perceives a storm in the narrator's eye.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and Artifice

The old man's reliance on his corns (natural, bodily signs) versus scientific instruments (artifice) highlights the tension between raw nature and human-made systems.

### Deception and Self-Deception

The old man's absurd claim to predict weather by his corns suggests self-deception or a con, while the narrator's skepticism points to the theme of deception.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator, lost in the dark and stormy night, seeks shelter and engages with the old weather forecaster.

### The Weather Wight

A bald, thin old man who claims to run a Weather Bureau using his corns to predict the weather, scornful of scientific instruments.

## Key lines

> God help the mariner," I cried, "Whose ship to-morrow braves the tide!

I prayed for sailors who would face the stormy sea the next day.

_The narrator expresses concern for those at sea._

> I tells the weather by my corns.

I predict the weather using my corns.

_The old man explains his unorthodox forecasting method._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-weather-wight
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters