The cur foretells the knell of parting day;
The loafing herd winds slowly o’er the lea;
The wise man homewards plods; I only stay
To fiddle-faddle in a minor key.
Ambrose Bierce, (born June 24, 1842, Meigs county, Ohio, U.S.—died 1914, Mexico?), American newspaperman, wit, satirist, poet, and author of sardonic short stories based on themes of death and horror. His life ended in an unsolved mystery. He disappeared in Mexico during Mexico’s horrific civil war.