Poem
Books and a coloured skein of thoughts were mine;And magic words lay ripening in my soulTill their much-whispered music turned a wineWhose subtlest power was all in my control.
These things were mine, and they were real for meAs lips and darling eyes and a warm breast:For I could love a phrase, a melody,Like a fair woman, worshipped and possessed.
I scorned all fire that outward of the eyesCould kindle passion; scorned, yet was afraid;Feared, and yet envied those more deeply wiseWho saw the bright earth beckon and obeyed.
But a time came when, turning full of hateAnd weariness from my remembered themes,I wished my poet's pipe could modulateBeauty more palpable than words and dreams.
All loveliness with which an act informsThe dim uncertain chaos of desireIs mine to-day; it touches me, it warmsBody and spirit with its outward fire.
I am mine no more: I have become a partOf that great earth that draws a breath and stirsTo meet the spring. But I could wish my heartWere still a winter of frosty gossamers.
Words in this poem
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
- beckon v. t.
- To make a significant sign to; hence, to summon, as by a motion of the hand.
- modulate v. t.
- To form, as sound, to a certain key, or to a certain portion. [L. modulatus, p.p. of modulari to measure, to modulate, fr. modulus a small measure, meter, melody, dim. of modus. See Mode.]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- chaos n.
- An empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm. [L. chaos chaos (in senses 1 & 2), Gr. Chasm.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem 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, 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.html, id L22038.
Form and metre
Poem is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
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 ABAB mineA · soulB · wineA · controlB
- 2 -A-A me · breastA · melody · possessedA
- 3 ABAB eyesA · afraidB · wiseA · obeyedB
- 4 ABAB hateA · themesB · modulateA · dreamsB
- 5 ABAB informsA · desireB · warmsA · fireB
- 6 ABAB partA · stirsB · heartA · gossamersB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Books and a coloured skein of thoughts were mine; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And magic words lay ripening in my soul | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Till their much-whispered music turned a wine | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Whose subtlest power was all in my control. | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| These things were mine, and they were real for me | 10 | ·········· |
| As lips and darling eyes and a warm breast: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For I could love a phrase, a melody, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Like a fair woman, worshipped and possessed. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| I scorned all fire that outward of the eyes | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Could kindle passion; scorned, yet was afraid; | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Feared, and yet envied those more deeply wise | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Who saw the bright earth beckon and obeyed. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| But a time came when, turning full of hate | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And weariness from my remembered themes, | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘· |
| I wished my poet's pipe could modulate | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Beauty more palpable than words and dreams. | 10 | /˘·/˘˘···· |
| All loveliness with which an act informs | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| The dim uncertain chaos of desire | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Is mine to-day; it touches me, it warms | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Body and spirit with its outward fire. | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| I am mine no more: I have become a part | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
| Of that great earth that draws a breath and stirs | 10 | ·········· |
| To meet the spring. But I could wish my heart | 10 | ·········· |
| Were still a winter of frosty gossamers. | 11 | ···/˘·/˘/˘˘ |
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.