“Belladonna, n.: In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.”

American author, journalist, and poet

Ambrose Bierce was an American author, journalist, and poet. He was a prolific writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for his sharp literary style and his influence on American journalism and fiction. He wrote realist fiction, horror, satire, war stories, and poetry, and was also known as a forceful literary critic. His work later won broader recognition for its range, especially his fiction and poems, while his war writing influenced later writers such as Stephen Crane and Ernest Hemingway.