As the Time Draws Nigh
As the time draws nigh glooming a cloud,A dread beyond of I know not what darkens me.
I shall go forth,I shall traverse the States awhile, but I cannot tell whither or how long,Perhaps soon some day or night while I am singing my voice willsuddenly cease.
O book, O chants! must all then amount to but this?Must we barely arrive at this beginning of us? --and yet it isenough, O soul;O soul, we have positively appear’d--that is enough.
Words in this poem
- glooming n.
- Twilight (of morning or evening); the gloaming. [Cf. Gloaming.]
- 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,]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
As the Time Draws Nigh is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, As the Time Draws Nigh, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/as-the-time-draws-nigh.html, id L04058.
Form and metre
As the Time Draws Nigh is 10 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.9 syllables. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| As the time draws nigh glooming a cloud, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| A dread beyond of I know not what darkens me. | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| I shall go forth, | 4 | ···· |
| I shall traverse the States awhile, but I cannot tell whither or how long, | 18 | ··/˘··˘/··/˘·/˘··· |
| Perhaps soon some day or night while I am singing my voice will | 15 | ˘/········/˘··· |
| suddenly cease. | 4 | /˘˘· |
| O book, O chants! must all then amount to but this? | 12 | ·······˘/··· |
| Must we barely arrive at this beginning of us? --and yet it is | 17 | ··/˘˘/··˘/˘······ |
| enough, O soul; | 4 | ˘/·· |
| O soul, we have positively appear’d--that is enough. | 14 | ····/˘˘˘˘/··˘/ |
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.