Poem IX
The hills more glorious in their coat of snowRise all around him, in the valleys runBright streams, and there are lakes that catch the sun,And sunlit fields of emerald far belowThat seem alive with inward light. In smokeThe far horizons fade; and there is peaceOn everything, a sense of blessed releaseFrom wilful strife. Like some prophetic cloakThe spirit of the mountains has descendedOn all the world, and its unrest is ended.Even the sea, glimpsed far away, seems still,Hushed to a silver peace its storm and strife.Mountains of vision, calm above fate and will,You hold the promise of the freer life.
Words in this poem
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- sunlit a.
- Lighted by the sun.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- unrest n.
- Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
- freer n.
- One who frees, or sets free.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem IX is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Defeat of Youth, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #24364; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Aldous Huxley, Poem IX, in The Defeat of Youth, and Other Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24364, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/huxley-defeat-of-youth/poem-ix.html, id L22000.
Form and metre
Poem IX is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBACDDCEEFGFG. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBACDDCEEFGFG snowA · runB · sunB · belowA · smokeC · peaceD · releaseD · cloakC · descendedE · endedE · stillF · strifeG · willF · lifeG
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The hills more glorious in their coat of snow | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Rise all around him, in the valleys run | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Bright streams, and there are lakes that catch the sun, | 10 | ·········· |
| And sunlit fields of emerald far below | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| That seem alive with inward light. In smoke | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| The far horizons fade; and there is peace | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| On everything, a sense of blessed release | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| From wilful strife. Like some prophetic cloak | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| The spirit of the mountains has descended | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| On all the world, and its unrest is ended. | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| Even the sea, glimpsed far away, seems still, | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| Hushed to a silver peace its storm and strife. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Mountains of vision, calm above fate and will, | 11 | /˘·/˘······ |
| You hold the promise of the freer life. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
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.