The Devil's Dictionary: Rumor

Updated May 14, 2020 | Infoplease Staff
by Ambrose Bierce
RUM
RUSSIAN

RUMOR

-n.

A favorite weapon of the assassins of character.

Sharp, irresistible by mail or shield,
By guard unparried as by flight unstayed,
O serviceable Rumor, let me wield
Against my enemy no other blade.
His be the terror of a foe unseen,
His the inutile hand upon the hilt,
And mine the deadly tongue, long, slender, keen,
Hinting a rumor of some ancient guilt.
So shall I slay the wretch without a blow,
Spare me to celebrate his overthrow,
And nurse my valor for another foe.

- Joel Buxter

.com/t/lit/devils-dictionary/R/99.html
Sources +