Valedictory
I had remarked--how sharply one observesWhen life is disappearing round the curvesOf yet another corner, out of sight!--I had remarked when it was "good luck" and "good night"And "a good journey to you," on her faceCertain enigmas penned in the hieroglyphsOf that half frown and queer fixed smile and traceOf clouded thought in those brown eyes,Always so happily clear of hows and ifs--My poor bleared mind!--and haunting whys.
There I stood, holding her farewell hand,(Pressing my life and soul and allThe world to one good-bye, till, smallAnd smaller pressed, why there I'd standDead when they vanished with the sight of her).And I saw that she had grown aware,Queer puzzled face! of other thingsBeyond the present and her own young speed,Of yesterday and what new days might breedMonstrously when the future bringsA charger with your late-lamented head:Aware of other people's lives and will,Aware, perhaps, aware even of me ...The joyous hope of it! But stillI pitied her; for it was sad to seeA goddess shorn of her divinity.In the midst of her speed she had made pause,And doubts with all their threat of claws,Outstripped till now by her unconsciousness,Had seized on her; she was proved mortal now."Live, only live! For you were meantNever to know a thought's distress,But a long glad astonishmentAt the world's beauty and your own.The pity of you, goddess, grownPerplexed and mortal."Yet ... yet ... can it beThat she is aware, perhaps, even of me?
And life recedes, recedes; the curve is bare,My handkerchief flutters blankly in the air;And the question rumbles in the void:Was she aware, was she after all aware?
Words in this poem
- penned a.
- Winged; having plumes.
- happily adv.
- By chance; peradventure; haply. Piers Plowman. [From Happy.]
- bleared a.
- Dimmed, as by a watery humor; affected with rheum.
- monstrously adv.
- In a monstrous manner; unnaturally; extraordinarily; as, monstrously wicked.
- charger n.
- One who, or that which charges.
- astonishment n.
- The condition of one who is stunned. Hence: Numbness; loss of sensation; stupor; loss of sense. [Cf. OF. est, F. étonnement.]
- blankly adv.
- In a blank manner; without expression; vacuously; as, to stare blankly. G. Eliot.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Valedictory 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, Valedictory, in The Defeat of Youth, and Other Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24364, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/huxley-defeat-of-youth/valedictory.html, id L22021.
Form and metre
Valedictory is 42 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 AABBCDCEDE observesA · curvesA · sightB · nightB · faceC · hieroglyphsD · traceC · eyesE · ifsD · whysE
- 2 ABBA--CDDC-EFEF-GGH-IHIJJ-FF handA · allB · smallB · standA · her · aware · thingsC · speedD · breedD · bringsC · head · willE · meF · stillE · seeF · divinity · pauseG · clawsG · unconsciousnessH · now · meantI · distressH · astonishmentI · ownJ · grownJ · mortal · beF · meF
- 3 AA-A bareA · airA · void · awareA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I had remarked--how sharply one observes | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| When life is disappearing round the curves | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Of yet another corner, out of sight!-- | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| I had remarked when it was "good luck" and "good night" | 12 | ··˘/········ |
| And "a good journey to you," on her face | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Certain enigmas penned in the hieroglyphs | 11 | /˘˘/˘····˘/ |
| Of that half frown and queer fixed smile and trace | 10 | ·········· |
| Of clouded thought in those brown eyes, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Always so happily clear of hows and ifs-- | 10 | /··/˘····· |
| My poor bleared mind!--and haunting whys. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There I stood, holding her farewell hand, | 9 | ···/˘··/· |
| (Pressing my life and soul and all | 8 | /˘······ |
| The world to one good-bye, till, small | 8 | ········ |
| And smaller pressed, why there I'd stand | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Dead when they vanished with the sight of her). | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And I saw that she had grown aware, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Queer puzzled face! of other things | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Beyond the present and her own young speed, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of yesterday and what new days might breed | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Monstrously when the future brings | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| A charger with your late-lamented head: | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Aware of other people's lives and will, | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘··· |
| Aware, perhaps, aware even of me ... | 10 | ˘/˘/˘//˘·· |
| The joyous hope of it! But still | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I pitied her; for it was sad to see | 10 | ·/········ |
| A goddess shorn of her divinity. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| In the midst of her speed she had made pause, | 10 | ·········· |
| And doubts with all their threat of claws, | 8 | ········ |
| Outstripped till now by her unconsciousness, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘˘ |
| Had seized on her; she was proved mortal now. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "Live, only live! For you were meant | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Never to know a thought's distress, | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| But a long glad astonishment | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| At the world's beauty and your own. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The pity of you, goddess, grown | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Perplexed and mortal." | 5 | ˘/·/˘ |
| Yet ... yet ... can it be | 5 | ····· |
| That she is aware, perhaps, even of me? | 10 | ···˘/˘//·· |
| And life recedes, recedes; the curve is bare, | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| My handkerchief flutters blankly in the air; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And the question rumbles in the void: | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| Was she aware, was she after all aware? | 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.