Enceladus
Under Mount Etna he lies,It is slumber, it is not death;For he struggles at times to arise,And above him the lurid skiesAre hot with his fiery breath.
The crags are piled on his breast,The earth is heaped on his head;But the groans of his wild unrest,Though smothered and half suppressed,Are heard, and he is not dead.
And the nations far awayAre watching with eager eyes;They talk together and say,"To-morrow, perhaps to-day,Euceladus will arise!"
And the old gods, the austereOppressors in their strength,Stand aghast and white with fearAt the ominous sounds they hear,And tremble, and mutter, "At length!"
Ah me! for the land that is sownWith the harvest of despair!Where the burning cinders, blownFrom the lips of the overthrownEnceladus, fill the air.
Where ashes are heaped in driftsOver vineyard and field and town,Whenever he starts and liftsHis head through the blackened riftsOf the crags that keep him down.
See, see! the red light shines!'T is the glare of his awful eyes!And the storm-wind shouts through the pinesOf Alps and of Apennines,"Enceladus, arise!"
Words in this poem
- etna n.
- A kind of small, portable, cooking apparatus for which heat is furnished by a spirit lamp.
- lurid a.
- Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal. [L. luridus.]
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
- unrest n.
- Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
- vineyard n.
- An inclosure or yard for grapevines; a plantation of vines producing grapes. [For OE. winyard, AS. wingeard; influenced by E. vine. See Wine, and Yard an inclosure.]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Enceladus is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Enceladus, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/enceladus.html, id L17638.
Form and metre
Enceladus is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABAAB liesA · deathB · ariseA · skiesA · breathB
- 2 ABAAB breastA · headB · unrestA · suppressedA · deadB
- 3 ABAAB awayA · eyesB · sayA · dayA · ariseB
- 4 ABAAB austereA · strengthB · fearA · hearA · lengthB
- 5 ABAAB sownA · despairB · blownA · overthrownA · airB
- 6 ABAAB driftsA · townB · liftsA · riftsA · downB
- 7 ABA-B shinesA · eyesB · pinesA · apennines · ariseB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Under Mount Etna he lies, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| It is slumber, it is not death; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| For he struggles at times to arise, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| And above him the lurid skies | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Are hot with his fiery breath. | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| The crags are piled on his breast, | 8 | ····˘··· |
| The earth is heaped on his head; | 8 | ····˘··· |
| But the groans of his wild unrest, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Though smothered and half suppressed, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| Are heard, and he is not dead. | 7 | ······· |
| And the nations far away | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Are watching with eager eyes; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| They talk together and say, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| "To-morrow, perhaps to-day, | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| Euceladus will arise!" | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And the old gods, the austere | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Oppressors in their strength, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Stand aghast and white with fear | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| At the ominous sounds they hear, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| And tremble, and mutter, "At length!" | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Ah me! for the land that is sown | 8 | ········ |
| With the harvest of despair! | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Where the burning cinders, blown | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| From the lips of the overthrown | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Enceladus, fill the air. | 7 | ······· |
| Where ashes are heaped in drifts | 8 | ·/˘··˘·· |
| Over vineyard and field and town, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Whenever he starts and lifts | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| His head through the blackened rifts | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Of the crags that keep him down. | 7 | ······· |
| See, see! the red light shines! | 6 | ······ |
| 'T is the glare of his awful eyes! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And the storm-wind shouts through the pines | 8 | ········ |
| Of Alps and of Apennines, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "Enceladus, arise!" | 6 | ····˘/ |
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.