Uncertain and afraid: Reading stanza five of Auden's September 1, 1939, Joseph Brodsky writes:
'Uncertainty, you see, is the mother of beauty, one of whose definitions is that it's something which isn't yours. At least, this is one of the most frequent sensations accompanying beauty. Therefore, when uncertainty is evoked, then you sense beauty's proximity. Uncertainty is simply a more alert state than certitude, and thus it creates a better lyrical climate. Because beauty is something obtained always from without, not from within.'
From Less Than One, a collection of Brodsky's essays.