The set of words that best indicates that J. Alfred Prufrock feels uncertain is the second one: turn back, revisions, reverse. The fragment where those words are inserted, part of the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T. S. Elliot, is a good indicator of the downhearted, disillusioned, indecisive, and lifeless character of the narrator. Prufrock is sure that there will be time to wonder if he will dare, if he will turn back and descend the stair, if he will act, while others see signs of his aging, to conclude by asking if he can actually dare to disturb the universe, to alter the status quo, something that can certainly be done in a minute, but that he is not going to do.