The Genesis of Embarrassment
When Adam first saw Eve he said:"O lovely creature, share my bed."Before consenting, she her gazeFixed on the greensward to appraise,As well as vision could avouch,The value of the proffered couch.And seeing that the grass was greenAnd neatly clipped with a machine--Observing that the flow'rs were rareVarieties, and some were fair,The posts of precious woods, besprentWith fragrant balsams, diffluent,And all things suited to her worth,She raised her angel eyes from earthTo his and, blushing to confess,Murmured: "I love you, Adam--yes."Since then her daughters, it is said,Look always down when asked to wed.
Words in this poem
- greensward n.
- Turf green with grass.
- avouch v. t.
- To appeal to; to cite or claim as authority. [OF. avochier, LL. advocare to recognize the existence of a thing, to advocate, fr. L. advocare to call to; ad + vocare to call. Cf. Avow to declare, Advocate, a]
- besprent p. p.
- Sprinkled over; strewed. [OE. bespreynt, p. p. of besprengen, bisprengen, to besprinkle, AS. besprengan, akin to D. & G. besprengen; pref. be- + sprengan to sprinkle. See Sprinkle.]
- diffluent a.
- Flowing apart or off; dissolving; not fixed. Bailey. [L. diffluens, p. pr. of diffluere to flow off; dif- = dis- + fluere to flow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Genesis of Embarrassment is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shapes of Clay (1903), Project Gutenberg ebook #12658; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ambrose Bierce, The Genesis of Embarrassment, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-genesis-of-embarrassment.html, id L28151.
Form and metre
The Genesis of Embarrassment is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII saidA · bedA · gazeB · appraiseB · avouchC · couchC · greenD · machineD · rareE · fairE · besprentF · diffluentF · worthG · earthG · confessH · yesH · saidI · wedI
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When Adam first saw Eve he said: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "O lovely creature, share my bed." | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Before consenting, she her gaze | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Fixed on the greensward to appraise, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As well as vision could avouch, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The value of the proffered couch. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And seeing that the grass was green | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And neatly clipped with a machine-- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Observing that the flow'rs were rare | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Varieties, and some were fair, | 8 | ˘/˘˘···· |
| The posts of precious woods, besprent | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| With fragrant balsams, diffluent, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| And all things suited to her worth, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She raised her angel eyes from earth | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To his and, blushing to confess, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Murmured: "I love you, Adam--yes." | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Since then her daughters, it is said, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Look always down when asked to wed. | 8 | ·/······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.