A poem by Aldous Huxley (1894 – 1963)
I had remarked–how sharply one observes
When life is disappearing round the curves
Of 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 face
Certain enigmas penned in the hieroglyphs
Of that half frown and queer fixed smile and trace
Of 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 all
The world to one good-bye, till, small
And smaller pressed, why there I’d stand
Dead when they vanished with the sight of her).
And I saw that she had grown aware,
Queer puzzled face! of other things
Beyond the present and her own young speed,
Of yesterday and what new days might breed
Monstrously when the future brings
A 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 still
I pitied her; for it was sad to see
A 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 meant
Never to know a thought’s distress,
But a long glad astonishment
At the world’s beauty and your own.
The pity of you, goddess, grown
Perplexed and mortal.”
Yet … yet … can it be
That 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?
A few random poems:
- Наум Коржавин – Мне без тебя так трудно жить
- A Domestic Dialogue by Mike Yuan
- Romulus and Remus by Rudyard Kipling
- Light Or Sheäde by William Barnes
- Paralytic by Sylvia Plath
- The Journey by Yvor Winters
- Николай Заболоцкий – Утренняя песня
- Новелла Матвеева – Отражённым светом
- one_almost_might.html
- Lines Addressed To Dr. Darwin, Author Of The ‘Botanic Garden.’ by William Cowper
- Song by Margaret Widdemer
- Love is a Tree by Rumi
- Returned To Say by William Stafford
- The Invisible by Rixa White
- Memory As a Hearing Aid by Tony Hoagland
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Владимир Высоцкий – Марш студентов-физиков
- Владимир Высоцкий – Марш аквалангистов
- Владимир Высоцкий – Марине
- Владимир Высоцкий – Мао Цзедун большой шалун
- Владимир Высоцкий – Люблю тебя
- Владимир Высоцкий – Лукоморья больше нет
- Владимир Высоцкий – Лежит камень в степи
- Владимир Высоцкий – Ленинградская блокада
- Владимир Высоцкий – Купола
- Владимир Высоцкий – Куплеты Бенгальского
- Владимир Высоцкий – Кто за чем бежит
- Владимир Высоцкий – Красное, зелёное, жёлтое, лиловое
- Владимир Высоцкий – Космонавту Ю. Гагарину
- Владимир Высоцкий – Корабли постоят, и ложатся на курс
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песенка лягушонка Джимми и ящерки Билли
- Владимир Высоцкий – Мартовский Заяц
- Владимир Высоцкий – Королевский крокей
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня Сашки Червня
- Владимир Высоцкий – Одесские куплеты
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песенка про прыгуна в длину
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works

Aldous Leonard Huxley (1894 – 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly fifty books—both novels and non-fiction works—as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.