# The Judge — Poetry character guide

> The Judge in Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the judge, The judge, The Judge

**First appearance:** 0000-poetry

## Snapshot

A recurring judicial figure whose bench becomes a stage for Bierce's contempt toward lawyers, orators, and the theater of public virtue.

## Who they are

The Judge presides over Bierce's verse as a symbol of institutional performance, invoked alongside attorneys and Memorial Day orators who profit from the dead. He is less a person than a position: the seat from which justice is pronounced and, in Bierce's telling, frequently betrayed. His appearances sharpen the collection's indictment of legal and civic hypocrisy in the post-war republic.

## In the story

### [Shapes of Clay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/shapes-of-clay)

Presides over the heavenly court, representing flawed human justice.

### [An Alibi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/an-alibi)

Presides over the trial, admits to being bribed by both sides, and displays biased rulings.

### [Judex Jocosus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/judex-jocosus)

Referred to as 'Judge Hilario', the judge whose jocular manner in expounding the law turns reverence into terror.

### [The Day of Wrath](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-day-of-wrath)

The divine judge presiding over the Day of Judgment, before whom all secrets are revealed.

### [The Scrap Heap](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-scrap-heap)

Presides over the heavenly court, subject to political manipulation.

### [One Judge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/one-judge)

Addressed as 'Judge Wallace,' praised for being a noble and morally upright figure.

### [A Celebrated Case](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/a-celebrated-case)

Presides over the trial with a stern demeanor.

### [Three Highwaymen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/three-highwaymen)

The Chief, a sententious man, dismisses the contractor's complaint with sarcasm.

### [Judge Rutledge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/judge-rutledge)

Addressed as 'Judge Rutledge' and 'Sultan of Stupids', portrayed as foolish and smug.

### [The Gates Ajar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-gates-ajar)

Presides over the heavenly court; grants Judge Blake a seat on the bench.

### [A Caller](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/a-caller)

Referenced as the target of Death's intended visit to the Supreme Court bench.

### [Contempt of Court](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/contempt-of-court)

Judge Ross, sober and bookish, is contrasted with the drunken juror and prepares to deliver a contempt ruling.

### [IV: Mr. Justice Field](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/iv-mr-justice-field)

The subject of the epitaph, a student of jurisprudence who settled points of law by throwing loaded dice.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_se/chapters/xxi)

Judge Sawyer, a figure clinging to the bench, removed only by death.

## Links

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