 | The collected works of Ambrose Bierce |  |
203
Lyre, n.
[_]
An ancient instrument of torture. The word is now used in a figurative sense to denote the poetic faculty, as in the following fiery lines of our great poet, Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
[I sit astride Parnassus with my lyre]
I sit astride Parnassus with my lyre,And pick with care the disobedient wire.
The stupid shepherd lolling on his crook
With deaf attention scarcely deigns to look.
I bide my time, and it shall come at length,
When, with a Titan's energy and strength,
I'll grab a fistful of the strings, and O,
The world shall suffer when I let them go!
Farquharson Harris.
| The collected works of Ambrose Bierce | |