The New Enoch
Enoch Arden was an ableSeaman; hear of his mishap--Not in wild mendacious fable,As 't was told by t' other chap;
For I hold it is a youthfulIndiscretion to tell lies,And the writer that is truthfulHas the reader that is wise.
Enoch Arden, able seaman,On an isle was cast away,And before he was a freemanTime had touched him up with gray.
Long he searched the fair horizon,Seated on a mountain top;Vessel ne'er he set his eyes onThat would undertake to stop.
Seeing that his sight was growingDim and dimmer, day by day,Enoch said he must be going.So he rose and went away--
Went away and so continuedTill he lost his lonely isle:Mr. Arden was so sinewedHe could row for many a mile.
Compass he had not, nor sextant,To direct him o'er the sea:Ere 't was known that he was extant,At his widow's home was he.
When he saw the hills and hollowsAnd the streets he could but know,He gave utterance as followsTo the sentiments below:
"Blast my tarry toplights! (shiver,Too, my timbers!) but, I say,W'at a larruk to diskiver,I have lost me blessid way!
"W'at, alas, would be my bloomin'Fate if Philip now I see,Which I lammed?--or my old 'oman,Which has frequent basted me?"
Scenes of childhood swam around himAt the thought of such a lot:In a swoon his Annie found himAnd conveyed him to her cot.
'T was the very house, the garden,Where their honeymoon was passed:'T was the place where Mrs. ArdenWould have mourned him to the last.
Ah, what grief she'd known without him!Now what tears of joy she shed!Enoch Arden looked about him:"Shanghaied!"--that was all he said.
Words in this poem
- mishap v. i.
- To happen unluckily; -- used impersonally.
- mendacious a.
- Given to deception or falsehood; lying; as, a mendacious person. [L. mendax, -acis, lying, cf. mentiri to lie.]
- indiscretion n.
- The quality or state of being indiscreet; want of discretion; imprudence. [Pref. in- not + discretion: cf. F. indiscrétion.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- sinewed a.
- Furnished with sinews; as, a strong-sinewed youth.
- extant a.
- Standing out or above any surface; protruded. [L. extans, -antis, or exstans, -antis, p.pr. of extare, exstare, to stand out or forth; ex out + stare to stand: cf. F. extant. See Stand.]
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- honeymoon n.
- The first month after marriage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The New Enoch 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 New Enoch, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-new-enoch.html, id L28083.
Form and metre
The New Enoch is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAB ableA · mishapB · fableA · chapB
- 2 ABAB youthfulA · liesB · truthfulA · wiseB
- 3 ABAB seamanA · awayB · freemanA · grayB
- 4 ABAB horizonA · topB · onA · stopB
- 5 ABAB growingA · dayB · goingA · awayB
- 6 ABAB continuedA · isleB · sinewedA · mileB
- 7 ABAB sextantA · seaB · extantA · heB
- 8 ABAB hollowsA · knowB · followsA · belowB
- 9 ABAB shiverA · sayB · diskiverA · wayB
- 10 ABAB bloominA · seeB · omanA · meB
- 11 ABAB himA · lotB · himA · cotB
- 12 ABAB gardenA · passedB · ardenA · lastB
- 13 ABAB himA · shedB · himA · saidB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Enoch Arden was an able | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| Seaman; hear of his mishap-- | 7 | /˘···/· |
| Not in wild mendacious fable, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| As 't was told by t' other chap; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| For I hold it is a youthful | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Indiscretion to tell lies, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| And the writer that is truthful | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Has the reader that is wise. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Enoch Arden, able seaman, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| On an isle was cast away, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And before he was a freeman | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Time had touched him up with gray. | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Long he searched the fair horizon, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Seated on a mountain top; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Vessel ne'er he set his eyes on | 8 | /˘······ |
| That would undertake to stop. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Seeing that his sight was growing | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Dim and dimmer, day by day, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Enoch said he must be going. | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| So he rose and went away-- | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Went away and so continued | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Till he lost his lonely isle: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Mr. Arden was so sinewed | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| He could row for many a mile. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Compass he had not, nor sextant, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| To direct him o'er the sea: | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Ere 't was known that he was extant, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| At his widow's home was he. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| When he saw the hills and hollows | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And the streets he could but know, | 7 | ······· |
| He gave utterance as follows | 8 | ··/˘˘·/˘ |
| To the sentiments below: | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| "Blast my tarry toplights! (shiver, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Too, my timbers!) but, I say, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| W'at a larruk to diskiver, | 8 | ········ |
| I have lost me blessid way! | 7 | ······· |
| "W'at, alas, would be my bloomin' | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Fate if Philip now I see, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Which I lammed?--or my old 'oman, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Which has frequent basted me?" | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Scenes of childhood swam around him | 8 | ··/····· |
| At the thought of such a lot: | 7 | ······· |
| In a swoon his Annie found him | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And conveyed him to her cot. | 8 | ·˘/˘···· |
| 'T was the very house, the garden, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Where their honeymoon was passed: | 8 | ··/˘···˘ |
| 'T was the place where Mrs. Arden | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Would have mourned him to the last. | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Ah, what grief she'd known without him! | 8 | ········ |
| Now what tears of joy she shed! | 7 | ······· |
| Enoch Arden looked about him: | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| "Shanghaied!"--that was all he said. | 7 | //····· |
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