The Defeat of Youth and Other Poems


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Though later known for his essays and novels, Aldous Huxley started his writing career as a poet. Published in 1918, The Defeat of Youth and Other Poems is his third compilation of poetry.

The volume begins with "The Defeat of Youth", a sequence of twenty-two sonnets that explores irreconcilability of the ideal and the disappointing reality. Jerome Meckier called it “the century’s most successful sonnet sequence, better than Auden’s or Edna St. Vincent Millay’s.” In the rest of the volume, Huxley continues to explore themes started in The Burning Wheel, his first volume of poetry, including vision, blindness, and other contrasts.

The volume concludes with two English translations by Huxley of two French poems: Stéphane Mallarmé’s 1876 poem “L’Après-midi d’un faune" and Arthur Rimbaud’s (1871) poem “Les Chercheuses de poux,” translated as “The Louse Hunters.” Summary by Mary Kay. (1 hr 23 min)

Chapters

The Defeat of Youth: Under the Trees 5:10 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Defeat of Youth: In the Hay-Loft 2:15 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Defeat of Youth: Mountains 2:16 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Defeat of Youth: In the Little Room 6:54 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Defeat of Youth: In the Park 3:08 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Defeat of Youth: Self Torment 2:11 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Defeat of Youth: The Quarry in the Wood 1:20 Read by bundy98
Song of Poplars 2:07 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Reef 3:42 Read by Renkotsu
Winter Dream 1:53 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Flowers 1:06 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Elms 1:14 Read by Arthur Krolman
Out of the Window 1:50 Read by bundy98
Inspiration 0:53 Read by bundy98
Summer Stillness 0:48 Read by Arthur Krolman
Anniversaries 2:50 Read by Renkotsu
Italy 2:15 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Alien 0:49 Read by Arthur Krolman
A Little Memory 0:55 Read by Arthur Krolman
Waking 2:13 Read by Renkotsu
By the Fire 2:11 Read by Larry Wilson
Valedictory 2:40 Read by Arthur Krolman
Love Song 1:38 Read by Arthur Krolman
Private Property 1:11 Read by bundy98
Revelation 1:01 Read by bundy98
Minoan Porcelain 0:56 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Decameron 1:22 Read by Arthur Krolman
In Uncertainty to a Lady 0:44 Read by bundy98
Crapulous Impression 1:59 Read by Arthur Krolman
The Life Theoretic 1:05 Read by bundy98
Complaint of a Poet Manqué 1:26 Read by Arthur Krolman
Social Amenities 0:54 Read by Arthur Krolman
Topiary 1:09 Read by Arthur Krolman
On the Bus 0:58 Read by Arthur Krolman
Points and Lines 0:54 Read by Arthur Krolman
Panic 0:52 Read by Arthur Krolman
Return from Business 0:38 Read by Arthur Krolman
Stanzas 1:57 Read by Arthur Krolman
Poem 1:50 Read by Larry Wilson
Scenes of the Mind 2:54 Read by J. McDougall
L'Après-Midi D'un Faune 7:09 Read by Larry Wilson
The Louse-Hunters 2:01 Read by Arthur Krolman