Expectation
Chide, chide no more awayThe fleeting daughters of the day,Nor with impatient thoughts outrunThe lazy sun,Nor[25:1] think the hours do move too slow;Delay is kind,And we too soon shall findThat which we seek, yet fear to know.
The mystic dark decreesUnfold not of the Destinies,Nor boldly seek to antedateThe laws of Fate;Thy anxious search awhile forbear,Suppress thy haste,And know that Time at lastWill crown thy hope, or fix thy fear.
Words in this poem
- outrun v. t.
- To exceed, or leave behind, in running; to run faster than; to outstrip; to go beyond.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- antedate n.
- Prior date; a date antecedent to another which is the actual date.
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Expectation is in the public domain. This text is taken from Thomas Stanley: His Original Lyrics, Complete, In Their Collated Readings of 1647, 1651, 1657. With an Introduction, Textual Notes, a List of Editions, an Appendix of Translations, and a Portrait., Project Gutenberg ebook #32986; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Stanley, Expectation, in Original Lyrics (1651), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #32986, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stanley-lyrics/expectation.html, id L08955.
Form and metre
Expectation is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 AABBCDDC awayA · dayA · outrunB · sunB · slowC · kindD · findD · knowC
- 2 AABBC--C decreesA · destiniesA · antedateB · fateB · forbearC · haste · last · fearC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Chide, chide no more away | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The fleeting daughters of the day, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Nor with impatient thoughts outrun | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| The lazy sun, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Nor[25:1] think the hours do move too slow; | 8 | ···/···· |
| Delay is kind, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| And we too soon shall find | 6 | ······ |
| That which we seek, yet fear to know. | 8 | ········ |
| The mystic dark decrees | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Unfold not of the Destinies, | 8 | ˘/···/˘˘ |
| Nor boldly seek to antedate | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The laws of Fate; | 4 | ···· |
| Thy anxious search awhile forbear, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Suppress thy haste, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| And know that Time at last | 6 | ······ |
| Will crown thy hope, or fix thy fear. | 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.