"Enoch Arden" is a poem published in 1864 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, during his tenure as England's Poet Laureate. Alfred Tennyson 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892 was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and remains one of the most popular English poets England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A Poet Laureate is a Poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events
The hero of the poem, fisherman turned merchant sailor Enoch Arden, leaves his wife Annie and three children to go to sea with his old captain, who is offering him work. Enoch had lost his job when he fell victim to an accident; in a manner that reflects the hero's masculine view of personal toil and hardship to support his family, Enoch Arden left his family to better serve them as a husband and father. However during his voyage he is shipwrecked and remains lost and missing for ten years.
He finds upon his return from the sea that, after his long absence, his wife, who believed him dead, is married happily to another man, his childhood friend Philip (Annie has known both men since her childhood, thus the rivalry), and has a child by him. Enoch's life remains unfulfilled, with one of his children now dead, and his wife and remaining children now being cared for by his onetime rival.
Tragically Enoch does not ever reveal to his wife and children that he is really alive, and dies of a broken heart.
The theme could be considered a variation on and antithesis to the Classical myth of Odyseus, who after an absence of ten years at sea found a faithful wife who had been loyally waiting for him. grc-Latn Odysseus or la Ulysses ( Greek grc-Latn Odysseus; Latin: la Ulixes or more commonly Ulysses) oʊˈdɪsiəs
"Enoch Arden" in popular culture
- A 1911 film, directed by D. W. Griffith is based on this poem. David Llewelyn Wark "D W" Griffith (January 22 1875 &ndash July 23 1948 was a premier pioneering Academy Award -winning American Film director.
- A 1915 film, directed by Christy Cabanne is based on this poem. Enoch Arden is a 1915 short Drama film directed by Christy Cabanne. Christy Cabanne born William Christy Cabanne ( April 16, 1888 - October 15, 1950) was an American Film director
- In the 1940 screwball comedy My Favorite Wife, the character Ellen Wagstaff Arden (Irene Dunne) is a comic inversion of Enoch Arden. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The screwball comedy is a subgenre of the comedy Film genre. It has proven to be one of the most popular and enduring film genres My Favorite Wife (released in the UK as My Favourite Wife) is a 1940 Screwball comedy starring Irene Dunne Irene Dunne ( December 20, 1898 - September 4, 1990) was a five-time Academy Award -nominated American film actress and She returns from sea and boldly reclaims her husband and children. Cary Grant's character is called Nicky Arden. The film was remade years later as Move Over, Darling, with Doris Day in the Dunne role and James Garner in the Cary Grant one. Move Over Darling (aka Somethings Gotta Give) is a 1963 Remake of the 1940 Screwball comedy My Favorite Doris Mary Anne von Kappelhoff (born April 3, 1922) is an American Singer, actress, and animal welfare advocate known as James Garner (born April 7 1928 is an American Film and Emmy -award winning Television Actor.
- Enoch Arden is the alias taken by Robert Underhay, a character in Agatha Christie's novel, Taken at the Flood. Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English There is a Tide redirects here. There is a Tide is also the name of a Short story by Larry Niven, set in the Known Space universe.
- The title of this poem is thought to be the origin of the trade name "Elizabeth Arden", adopted by Canadian Florence Nightingale Graham for her cosmetics empire. Elizabeth Arden ( December 31, 1878 - October 19, 1966) was a Canadian businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United Elizabeth Arden ( December 31, 1878 - October 19, 1966) was a Canadian businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United
- The poem was set to music by Richard Strauss (Enoch Arden Op. Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 &ndash 8 September 1949 was a German Composer of the late Romantic era and early modern era particularly noted 38). The work requires a narrator and pianist. It has been recorded by Glenn Gould and Claude Rains. Glenn Herbert Gould At a young age he reportedly behaved differently from typical children at the piano he would strike single notes and listen to their long decay William Claude Rains (10 November &ndash30 May) was an English award-winning Actor and Film star whose career spanned 47 years It has also been performed widely in 2007 by Emanuel Ax (piano) and Patrick Stewart (narrator) and recorded for release in September 2007. Emanuel Ax (born June 8, 1949) is a Grammy -winning Jewish - American classical pianist Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE (born 13 July 1940 is an English Film, Television and stage Actor. There is also another version with Michael York (narrator) and John Bell Young (pianist). Michael York, OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; March 27, 1942) is an English Actor.
- The 1946 film Tomorrow is Forever is based on the poem. Tomorrow Is Forever is a 1946 Black-and-white film distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Irving Pichel, starring The film stars Orson Welles as the Enoch Arden character, and Claudette Colbert as his wife. George Orson Welles (May 6 1915 – October 10 1985 was an Academy Award -winning director, writer actor and producer for film stage radio and television Claudette Colbert ( IPA: /koʊlˈbɛɹ/ ( September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996) was a French -born American stage
- The first Italian edition of Tennyson's Enoch Arden (melodrama by Richard Strauss, Op. Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 &ndash 8 September 1949 was a German Composer of the late Romantic era and early modern era particularly noted 38) was published in 2004 by Pietro De Luigi in a version, like the original, for piano and voice, on the CD label Rugginenti. The performers are Pietro De Luigi (pianist), and the actress Laura Marinoni (narrator).
- The Tom Hanks film Cast Away from 2000, could be considered a variation of Enoch Arden. Cast Away is a 2000 Film by 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks about a modern day Robinson Crusoe, a FedEx employee
- The short story Enoch Arden's One Night Stands (2004) by Jacob M. Appel features an in-depth discussion of the poem by a pair of would-be lovers.