The Retrospective Bird by Ambrose Bierce
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By Ambrose Bierce · First published 1897 · Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural · 173 words
First lines
His caw is a cackle, his eye is dim, / And he mopes all day on the lowest limb; / Not a word says he, but he snaps his bill / And twitches his palsied head, as a quill, / The ultimate plume of his pride and hope, / Quits his now featherless nose-of-the-Pope, / Leaving that eminence brown and bare / Exposed to the Prince of the Power of the Air.
And he sits and he thinks: "I'm an old, old man, / Mateless and chickless, the last of my clan, / But I'd give the half of the days gone by / To perch once more on the branches high, / And hear my great-grand-daddy's comical croaks / In authorized versions of "Bulletin" jokes."
What this Textopian page supports
The Retrospective Bird is listed on Textopian as a short story by Ambrose Bierce, dated 1897 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Ambrose Bierce
- Date: 1897 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural, Historical Fiction, Short Stories
- Length: 173 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Retrospective Bird by Ambrose Bierce
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Similar titles
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Genres
- Fantasy — The title and known works of the author suggest speculative themes and elements of unrealism.
- Mystery — The retrospective bird in title could be a metaphor for looking back, hinting at a possible mystery needing to be unraveled.
- Supernatural — Ambrose Bierce's writing often contains eerie, ghostly elements.
- Historical Fiction — The author's potential use of retrospection may suggest a narrative set in the past.
Tags
gothic fiction · supernatural horror · mystery · thriller · psychological horror · literary fiction · symbolism · surrealism · magical realism · speculative fiction · fantasy · horror