A "Mass" Meeting

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Title:     A "Mass" Meeting
Author: Ambrose Bierce [More Titles by Bierce]

It was a solemn rite as e'er
Was seen by mortal man.
The celebrants, the people there,
Were all Republican.

There Estee bent his grizzled head,
And General Dimond, too,
And one--'twas Reddick, some one said,
Though no one clearly knew.

I saw the priest, white-robed and tall
(Assistant, Father Stow)--
He was the pious man men call
Dan Burns of Mexico.

Ah, 'twas a high and holy rite
As any one could swear.
"What does it mean?" I asked a wight
Who knelt apart in prayer.

"A mass for the repose," he said,
"Of Colonel Markham's"----"What,
Is gallant Colonel Markham dead?
'Tis sad, 'tis sad, God wot!"

"A mass"--repeated he, and rose
To go and kneel among
The worshipers--"for the repose
Of Colonel Markham's tongue."

[The end]
Ambrose Bierce's poem: "Mass" Meeting

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