Assurance
I have heard gods whispering in the corn and wind;In my crude times when thoughts leaped forth,Conquering, destroying, serving steel and iron,I have run back to gods, to prayers and dreams.I have dreamed much and have remembered dreams.
Now in this room, a face stands forth,A narrow face, with many shadows hid 'twixt brow and chin.The face half turns,It tells its tale to me,Now down the drumming way of time it goes and leaves me shaken here.
Now woman and tall man,My little brother who has passed my way,Bestow a kiss on me.Turn quick thy face, let what is old grow new.Strike in the darkness at the horrid lie.Laugh now and pass along.
I remember you forever for a moment's love.I pass to you the message in the long relay.Are you brave—do you dare—will you try?See, I take the death that came into the room to you.
A face remembered, a desire forgot,A word caught drifting in the long detour,A caress to you, a swift hail to you.Forget—remember—dare to cling to me.Now wait you in the darknessTill the moment comes.
Words in this poem
- drumming n.
- The act of beating upon, or as if upon, a drum; also, the noise which the male of the ruffed grouse makes in spring, by beating his wings upon his sides.
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- detour n.
- A turning; a circuitous route; a deviation from a direct course; as, the detours of the Mississippi. [F. détour, fr. détourner to turn aside; pref. dé- (L. dis-) + tourner to turn. See Turn.]
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Assurance is in the public domain. This text is taken from Mid-American Chants (New York: John Lane Company; London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1918), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sherwood Anderson, Assurance, in Mid-American Chants (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/anderson-mid-american-chants/assurance.html, id L29497.
Form and metre
Assurance is 26 lines in 5 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ---AA wind · forth · iron · dreamsA · dreamsA
- 3 --A-A- man · way · meA · new · lieA · along
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I have heard gods whispering in the corn and wind; | 12 | ····/˘˘····· |
| In my crude times when thoughts leaped forth, | 8 | ········ |
| Conquering, destroying, serving steel and iron, | 12 | /˘˘˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| I have run back to gods, to prayers and dreams. | 10 | ·········· |
| I have dreamed much and have remembered dreams. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Now in this room, a face stands forth, | 8 | ········ |
| A narrow face, with many shadows hid 'twixt brow and chin. | 14 | ·/˘··/˘/······ |
| The face half turns, | 4 | ···· |
| It tells its tale to me, | 6 | ······ |
| Now down the drumming way of time it goes and leaves me shaken here. | 16 | ···/˘········/˘· |
| Now woman and tall man, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My little brother who has passed my way, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Bestow a kiss on me. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Turn quick thy face, let what is old grow new. | 10 | ·········· |
| Strike in the darkness at the horrid lie. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Laugh now and pass along. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I remember you forever for a moment's love. | 13 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘··/˘· |
| I pass to you the message in the long relay. | 12 | ·····/˘···/· |
| Are you brave—do you dare—will you try? | 9 | ········· |
| See, I take the death that came into the room to you. | 13 | ············· |
| A face remembered, a desire forgot, | 11 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘˘/ |
| A word caught drifting in the long detour, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| A caress to you, a swift hail to you. | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| Forget—remember—dare to cling to me. | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| Now wait you in the darkness | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Till the moment comes. | 5 | ··/˘· |
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.