# Frank Pixley — Poetry character guide

> Frank Pixley in Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Pixley, a Word - Warrior Frank Pixley

**First appearance:** 0000-poetry

## Who they are

A word-warrior whom the verse addresses directly, the sort of sparring partner Bierce prefers to the critics he skewers elsewhere.

## In the story

### [Two Delegates](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/two-delegates)

Arrives in a gloomy mood after being silenced at a convention; roars for a leg of beef and engages in a hostile stare-down with Gorham.

### [The Transmigrations of a Soul](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-transmigrations-of-a-soul)

Subject of the narrator's vitriolic critique, accused of miserliness, drunkenness, hypocrisy, and lacking all noble virtues.

### [The Subdued Editor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-subdued-editor)

The editor, described as 'Pope-eater Pixley,' chewing tobacco and imagining it as Papal blood, then subdued by the devil.

### [To a Word-Warrior](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/to-a-word-warrior)

Addressed directly as a 'Word-Warrior,' Pixley is criticized for his inflammatory speech and writing during the Civil War, including inciting a mob that destroyed a newspaper.

### [The American Party](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-american-party)

Mentioned as the other member of the party, referred to as 'Pixley' and compared to a kite that would sail.

### [Substance or Shadow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/substance-or-shadow)

Mentioned as having a head easy to strike, a target for satire.

### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/xviii)

Subject of the epitaph; described as a cynical scribe and muleteer who flattered for pay and hoarded his life away.

### [The Mummery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-mummery)

Appears as a character in the mummery, representing the blend of art and criticism.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/characters/frank_pixley
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/characters