Uncertainty
It will not be to-day and yetI think and dream it will; and letThe slow uncertainty deviseSo many sweet excuses, metWith the old doubt in hope's disguise.
The panes were sweated with the dawn;Yet through their dimness, shriveled drawn,The aigret of one princess-feather,One monk's-hood tuft with oilets wan,I glimpsed, dead in the slaying weather.
This morning, when my window's chintzI drew, how gray the day was!--SinceI saw him, yea, all days are gray!--I gazed out on my dripping quince,Defruited, gnarled; then turned away
To weep, but did not weep: but feltA colder anguish than did meltAbout the tearful-visaged year!--Then flung the lattice wide, and smeltThe autumn sorrow: Rotting near
The rain-drenched sunflowers bent and bleached,Up which the frost-nipped gourd-vines reachedAnd morning-glories, seeded o'erWith ashen aiglets; whence beseechedOne last bloom, frozen to the core.
The podded hollyhocks,--that FallHad stripped of finery,--by the wallRustled their tatters; dripped and dripped,The fog thick on them: near them, allThe tarnished, haglike zinnias tipped.
I felt the death and loved it: yea,To have it nearer, sought the gray,Chill, fading garth. Yet could not weep,But wandered in an aimless way,And sighed with weariness for sleep.
Mine were the fog, the frosty stalks;The weak lights on the leafy walks;The shadows shivering with the cold;The breaking heart; the lonely talks;The last, dim, ruined marigold.
But when to-night the moon swings low--A great marsh-marigold of glow--And all my garden with the seaMoans, then, through moon and mist, I knowMy love will come to comfort me.
Words in this poem
- aigret n.
- The small white European heron. See Egret. [F., a sort of white heron, with a tuft of feathers on its head; a tuft of feathers; dim. of the same word as heron. See Heron, and cf. Egret, Egrette.]
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- chintz n.
- Cotton cloth, printed with flowers and other devices, in a number of different colors, and often glazed. [Hindi chint spotted cotton clooth, chinta spot.]
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
- gnarled a.
- Knotty; full of knots or gnarls; twisted; crossgrained.
- bleached a.
- Whitened; make white.
- ashen a.
- Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
- finery n.
- Fineness; beauty.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- aimless a.
- Without aim or purpose; as, an aimless life.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Uncertainty is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, Uncertainty, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/uncertainty.html, id L10893.
Form and metre
Uncertainty is 45 lines in 9 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABAB, complete in 6 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% 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 AABAB yetA · letA · deviseB · metA · disguiseB
- 2 AAB-B dawnA · drawnA · featherB · wan · weatherB
- 3 -ABAB chintz · sinceA · grayB · quinceA · awayB
- 4 AABAB feltA · meltA · yearB · smeltA · nearB
- 5 AA-A- bleachedA · reachedA · o'er · beseechedA · core
- 6 AABAB fallA · wallA · drippedB · allA · tippedB
- 7 AABAB yeaA · grayA · weepB · wayA · sleepB
- 8 AABAB stalksA · walksA · coldB · talksA · marigoldB
- 9 AABAB lowA · glowA · seaB · knowA · meB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It will not be to-day and yet | 8 | ········ |
| I think and dream it will; and let | 8 | ········ |
| The slow uncertainty devise | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| So many sweet excuses, met | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| With the old doubt in hope's disguise. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The panes were sweated with the dawn; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet through their dimness, shriveled drawn, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The aigret of one princess-feather, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| One monk's-hood tuft with oilets wan, | 8 | ········ |
| I glimpsed, dead in the slaying weather. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| This morning, when my window's chintz | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I drew, how gray the day was!--Since | 8 | ········ |
| I saw him, yea, all days are gray!-- | 8 | ········ |
| I gazed out on my dripping quince, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Defruited, gnarled; then turned away | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To weep, but did not weep: but felt | 8 | ········ |
| A colder anguish than did melt | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| About the tearful-visaged year!-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Then flung the lattice wide, and smelt | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The autumn sorrow: Rotting near | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| The rain-drenched sunflowers bent and bleached, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Up which the frost-nipped gourd-vines reached | 8 | ········ |
| And morning-glories, seeded o'er | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| With ashen aiglets; whence beseeched | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| One last bloom, frozen to the core. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The podded hollyhocks,--that Fall | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Had stripped of finery,--by the wall | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Rustled their tatters; dripped and dripped, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| The fog thick on them: near them, all | 8 | ········ |
| The tarnished, haglike zinnias tipped. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I felt the death and loved it: yea, | 8 | ········ |
| To have it nearer, sought the gray, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Chill, fading garth. Yet could not weep, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But wandered in an aimless way, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And sighed with weariness for sleep. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Mine were the fog, the frosty stalks; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The weak lights on the leafy walks; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The shadows shivering with the cold; | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| The breaking heart; the lonely talks; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The last, dim, ruined marigold. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| But when to-night the moon swings low-- | 8 | ········ |
| A great marsh-marigold of glow-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And all my garden with the sea | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Moans, then, through moon and mist, I know | 8 | ········ |
| My love will come to comfort me. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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