Explore "The Van Nessiad" by Ambrose Bierce on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
From end to end, thine avenue, Van Ness, / Rang with the cries of battle and distress! / Brave lungs were thundering with dreadful sound / And perspiration smoked along the ground! / Sing, heavenly muse, to ears of mortal clay, / The meaning, cause and finish of the fray.
Great Porter Ashe (invoking first the gods, / Who signed their favor with assenting nods / That snapped off half their heads -- their necks grown dry / Since last the nectar cup went circling by) / Resolved to build a stable on his lot, / His neighbors fiercely swearing he should not.