Poem VII
The silence of the storm weighs heavilyOn their strained spirits: sometimes one will saySome trivial thing as though to ward awayMysterious powers, that imminently lieIn wait, with the strong exorcising graceOf everyday's futility. DesireBecomes upon a sudden a crystal fire,Defined and hard:--If he could kiss her face,Could kiss her hair! As if by chance, her handBrushes on his ... Ah, can she understand?Or is she pedestalled above the touchOf his desire? He wonders: dare he seekFrom her that little, that infinitely much?And suddenly she kissed him on the cheek.
Words in this poem
- trivial a.
- Found anywhere; common. [L. trivialis, properly, that is in, or belongs to, the crossroads or public streets; hence, that may be found everywhere, common, fr. trivium a place where thre]
- imminently adv.
- In an imminent manner.
- futility n.
- The quality of being talkative; talkativeness; loquaciousness; loquacity. [L. futilitas: cf. F. futilité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem VII 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 VII, 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-vii.html, id L21998.
Form and metre
Poem VII is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
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 -AA-BCCBDDEFEF heavily · sayA · awayA · lie · graceB · desireC · fireC · faceB · handD · understandD · touchE · seekF · muchE · cheekF
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 silence of the storm weighs heavily | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| On their strained spirits: sometimes one will say | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Some trivial thing as though to ward away | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Mysterious powers, that imminently lie | 10 | ˘/˘/·/˘˘˘· |
| In wait, with the strong exorcising grace | 10 | ·········· |
| Of everyday's futility. Desire | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Becomes upon a sudden a crystal fire, | 11 | ˘/···/˘·/˘/ |
| Defined and hard:--If he could kiss her face, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Could kiss her hair! As if by chance, her hand | 10 | ·········· |
| Brushes on his ... Ah, can she understand? | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Or is she pedestalled above the touch | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Of his desire? He wonders: dare he seek | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| From her that little, that infinitely much? | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘· |
| And suddenly she kissed him on the cheek. | 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.