Under
I am the undertowWashing tides of powerBattering the pillarsUnder your things of high law.
I am a sleeplessSlowfaring eater,Maker of rust and rotIn your bastioned fastenings,Caissons deep.
I am the LawOlder than youAnd your builders proud.
I am deafIn all daysWhether youSay "Yes" or "No".
I am the crumbler:To-morrow.
Words in this poem
- undertow n.
- The current that sets seaward near the bottom when waves are breaking upon the shore.
- sleepless a.
- Having no sleep; wakeful.
- bastioned a.
- Furnished with a bastion; having bastions.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Under is in the public domain. This text is taken from Chicago Poems, Wikisource; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Carl Sandburg, Under, in Chicago Poems (1916), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sandburg-chicago-poems/under.html, id L28934.
Form and metre
Under is 18 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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.
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I am the undertow | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Washing tides of power | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Battering the pillars | 6 | /˘˘·/˘ |
| Under your things of high law. | 7 | ······· |
| I am a sleepless | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Slowfaring eater, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Maker of rust and rot | 6 | /˘···· |
| In your bastioned fastenings, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Caissons deep. | 3 | /˘· |
| I am the Law | 4 | ···· |
| Older than you | 4 | /˘·· |
| And your builders proud. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| I am deaf | 3 | ··· |
| In all days | 3 | ··· |
| Whether you | 3 | ··· |
| Say "Yes" or "No". | 4 | ···· |
| I am the crumbler: | 5 | ····· |
| To-morrow. | 3 | ·/˘ |
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.