A lieutenant stood at the right of the line, the point of his sword upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his right. The water, the banks, the forests, the now distant bridge, fort and men--all were commingled and blurred. That is a good gun.". His tongue was swollen with thirst; he relieved its fever by thrusting it forward from between his teeth into the cold air. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. While she was fetching the water her husband approached the dusty horseman and inquired eagerly for news from the front. Ah, how beautiful she is! By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famishing. The baffled cannoneer had fired him a random farewell. Peyton Farquhar. Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him. The arrangement commended itself to his judgment as simple and effective. The sergeant stepped aside. Quotes from Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. He was a captain. A rope closely encircled his neck. What he heard was the ticking of his watch. His features were good--a straight nose, firm mouth, broad forehead, from which his long, dark hair was combed straight back, falling behind his ears to the collar of his well-fitting frock coat. He wore a mustache and pointed beard, but no whiskers; his eyes were large and dark gray, and had a kindly expression which one would hardly have expected in one whose neck was in the hemp. They were, indeed, preternaturally keen and alert. Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician he was naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to the Southern cause. The soldiers had almost finished reloading; the metal ramrods flashed all at once in the sunshine as they were drawn from the barrels, turned in the air, and thrust into their sockets. He awaited each stroke with impatience and--he knew not why--apprehension. Continue your study of He springs forward with extended arms. The sergeant turned to the captain, saluted and placed himself immediately behind that officer, who in turn moved apart one pace. Farquhar asked. The intervals of silence grew progressively longer, the delays became maddening. Our, LitCharts makes it easy to find quotes by In section I, Peyton Farquhar is standing on a railroad bridge, twenty feet above the water. It is as easy to dodge a volley as a single shot. He thanked her ceremoniously, bowed to her husband and rode away. As to his head, he was conscious of nothing but a feeling of fulness--of congestion. No service was too humble for him to perform in aid of the South, no adventure too perilous for him to undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was at heart a soldier, and who in good faith and without too much qualification assented to at least a part of the frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in love and war. What a sluggish stream! “Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. "To be hanged and drowned," he thought? By diving I could evade the bullets and, swimming vigorously, reach the bank, take to the woods and get away home. . Set during the American Civil War, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek" is Bierce's most famous short story. His whole body was racked and wrenched with an insupportable anguish! From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations of famous quotes, the SparkNotes An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Study Guide has everything you need to ace quizzes, tests, and essays. Not so much as the barking of a dog suggested human habitation. A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. He observed that it was a gray eye and remembered having read that gray eyes were keenest, in that all famous marksmen had them. "I observed that the flood of last winter had lodged a great quantity of driftwood against the wooden pier at this end of the bridge. Peyton Farquhar. An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is neatly divided into three sections, the first and last longer and the middle one shorter. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. It was first published in the San Francisco Examiner in 1890. Suddenly he heard a sharp report and something struck the water smartly within a few inches of his head, spattering his face with spray. The man's hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord.

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