Fate
Deep in the man sits fast his fateTo mould his fortunes, mean or great:Unknown to Cromwell as to meWas Cromwell's measure or degree;Unknown to him as to his horse,If he than his groom be better or worse.He works, plots, fights, in rude affairs,With squires, lords, kings, his craft compares,Till late he learned, through doubt and fear,Broad England harbored not his peer:Obeying time, the last to ownThe Genius from its cloudy throne.For the prevision is alliedUnto the thing so signified;Or say, the foresight that awaitsIs the same Genius that creates.
Words in this poem
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- prevision n.
- Foresight; foreknowledge; prescience. H. Spencer. [Cf. F. prévision.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fate is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Household Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #12843; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fate, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/fate.html, id L07443.
Form and metre
Fate is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABB--CCDDEEFFGG fateA · greatA · meB · degreeB · horse · worse · affairsC · comparesC · fearD · peerD · ownE · throneE · alliedF · signifiedF · awaitsG · createsG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Deep in the man sits fast his fate | 8 | ········ |
| To mould his fortunes, mean or great: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Unknown to Cromwell as to me | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Was Cromwell's measure or degree; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Unknown to him as to his horse, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| If he than his groom be better or worse. | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| He works, plots, fights, in rude affairs, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With squires, lords, kings, his craft compares, | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| Till late he learned, through doubt and fear, | 8 | ········ |
| Broad England harbored not his peer: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Obeying time, the last to own | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| The Genius from its cloudy throne. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For the prevision is allied | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Unto the thing so signified; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or say, the foresight that awaits | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| Is the same Genius that creates. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
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.