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Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay Quotes

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Famous Edna St. Vincent Millay Quotes

“We were so wholly one I had not thought That we could die apart. I had not thought That I could move,—and you be stiff and still! That I could speak,—and you perforce be dumb! I think our heart-strings were, like warp and woof In some firm fabric, woven in and out; Your golden filaments in fair design Across my duller fibre.”

ThinkingHeartStillsMovingDiesSpeakDesignFairsGoldenDumbFirmStringsFabricWovenWarpHeart Strings
Book:The Collected Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay
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“I shall forget you presently, my dear, So make the most of this, your little day, Your little month, your little half a year, Ere I forget, or die, or move away, And we are done forever; by and by I shall forget you, as I said, but now, If you entreat me with your loveliest lie I will protest you with my favorite vow. I would indeed that love were longer-lived, And vows were not so brittle as they are, But so it is, and nature has contrived To struggle on without a break thus far,-- Whether or not we find what we are seeking Is idle, biologically speaking.”

IfsYearsLittlesSaidDoneMovingLyingDiesForgetHalfBreakStruggleForeverMonthsDearMy FavoriteSeekingProtestIdleVowForget YouHalf A Year
Author:Edna St. Vincent Millay
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“What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why, I have forgotten, and what arms have lain Under my head till morning, but the rain Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh Upon the glass and listen for reply, And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain For unremembered lads that not again Will turn to me at midnight with a cry. Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree, Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one, Yet knows its boughs more silent than before: I cannot say what loves have come and gone, I only know that summer sang in me A little while, that in me sings no more.”

KnowsHeartLittlesPainTurnsMorningGoneTreeCryArmsMy HeartQuietSummerBirdRainLonelySilentWinterForgottenLipsGlassesGhostTonightMidnightSighLadLonely Trees
Author:Edna St. Vincent Millay
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“They say when you are missing someone that they are probably feeling the same, but I don't think it's possible for you to miss me as much as I'm missing you right now”

ThinkingLoveFeelingsSadnessMissingRight NowSadLongingLost LoveRomantic LoveValentine's DayMissing SomeoneDon't Give UpMissing YouI Miss YouBeing SadFeeling SadMissed YouSad LifeSadness Of LifeI Missed YouMiss MeSadness And LoveMissing You LoveSad FeelingSad Break Up LoveReally Sad Break UpMissing A Person
Author:Edna St. Vincent Millay
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“The world stands out on either side No wider than the heart is wide; Above the world is stretched the sky, No higher than the soul is high. The heart can push the sea and land Farther away on either hand; The soul can split the sky in two, And let the face of God shine through. But East and West will pinch the heart That can not keep them pushed apart; And he whose soul is flat—the sky Will cave in on him by and by.”

WorldHeartTwoSoulHandsFacesSidesSeaSkyLandHigherShiningWestWideEastFlatsSplitsCan NotStanding OutCavesEast And West
Author:Edna St. Vincent Millay
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“Time does not bring relief; you all have lied Who told me time would ease me of my pain! I miss him in the weeping of the rain; I want him at the shrinking of the tide; The old snows melt from every mountain-side, And last year's leaves are smoke in every lane; But last year's bitter loving must remain Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide! There are a hundred places where I fear To go,--so with his memory they brim! And entering with relief some quiet place Where never fell his foot or shone his face I say, 'There is no memory of him here!' And so stand stricken, so remembering him!”

WantYearsHeartDoePainLastsRememberFacesSidesMemoriesFeetMissingMy HeartQuietMountainHundredRainSnowBitterSmokeEaseReliefBitternessYearningTidesLast YearEnteringLiedWeepingLanesWant HimShrinkingNo MemoryQuiet PlaceRemembering Him
Book:Millay: Poems
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“Listen, children: Your father is dead. From his old coats I'll make you little jackets; I'll make you little trousers From his old pants. There'll be in his pockets Things he used to put there, Keys and pennies Covered with tobacco; Dan shall have the pennies To save in his bank; Anne shall have the keys To make a pretty noise with. Life must go on, Though good men die; Anne, eat your breakfast; Dan, take your medicine; Life must go on; I forget just why.”

MenChildrenLittlesUsedDiesFatherForgetKeysGoes OnMedicineNoisePocketsGood ManCoveredBreakfastPantsCoatsJacketsPenniesTobaccoTrousers
Book:Second April: Easyread Large Bold Edition
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“I, being born a woman and distressed By all the needs and notions of my kind, Am urged by your propinquity to find Your person fair, and feel a certain zest To bear your body's weight upon my breast; So subtly is the fume of life designed, To clarify the pulse and cloud the mind, And leave me once again undone, possessed. Think not for this, however, the poor treason Of my stout blood against my staggering brain, I shall remember you with love, or season My scorn with pity, - let me make it plain: I find this frenzy insufficient reason For conversation when we meet again.”

ThinkingNeedsFeelsMindKindPersonsReasonBodyRememberCertainBornPoorBrainBloodBearsConversationFairsSeasonsWeightLet MeNotionCloudsYour BodyPityBreastsPossessedLeaving MeScornPulseUndoneTreasonRemember YouRemembers YouInsufficientFrenzyStaggeringZestStoutPropinquity
Book:Edna St. Vincent Millay: Selected Poems
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“For my omniscience paid I toll In infinite remorse of soul. All sin was of my sinning, all Atoning mine, and mine the gall Of all regret. Mine was the weight Of every brooded wrong, the hate That stood behind each envious thrust, Mine every greed, mine every lust. And all the while for every grief, Each suffering, I craved relief With individual desire, – Craved all in vain! And felt fierce fire About a thousand people crawl; Perished with each, — then mourned for all!”

PeopleSoulDesireSufferingHateIndividualFeltSinGriefBehindsFireMinesRegretThousandWeightPaidInfiniteGreedLustVainReliefFierceRemorseThrustEnviousTollsSinningOmniscience
Book:Renascence and Other Poems
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“Spring TO what purpose, April, do you return again? Beauty is not enough. You can no longer quiet me with the redness Of little leaves opening stickily. I know what I know. The sun is hot on my neck as I observe The spikes of the crocus. The smell of the earth is good. It is apparent that there is no death. But what does that signify? Not only under ground are the brains of men Eaten by maggots. Life in itself Is nothing, An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs. It is not enough that yearly, down this hill, April Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.”

KnowsMenLittlesDoeEnoughEarthPurposeBrainSunFlowerReturnQuietSpringEmptyHotSmellOpeningFlightCupsHillsIdiotNecksAprilStairsBabblingMaggotsCrocusesEmpty Cup
Book:Second April: Easyread Super Large 18pt Edition
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“And what are you that, missing you, I should be kept awake As many nights as there are days With weeping for your sake? And what are you that, missing you, As many days as crawl I should be listening to the wind And looking at the wall? I know a man that’s a braver man And twenty men as kind, And what are you, that you should be The one man in my mind? Yet women’s ways are witless ways, As any sage will tell,— And what am I, that I should love So wisely and so well?”

KnowsMenWayShouldMindWellsKindNightMissingWindWallListeningTwentiesSakeAwakeOne ManSageWeeping
Book:Edna St. Vincent Millay: Selected Poems
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“Ah, drink again This river that is the taker-away of pain, And the giver-back of beauty! In these cool waves What can be lost?-- Only the sorry cost Of the lovely thing, ah, never the thing itself! The level flood that laves The hot brow And the stiff shoulder Is at our temples now. Gone is the fever, But not into the river; Melted the frozen pride, But the tranquil tide Runs never the warmer for this, Never the colder. Immerse the dream. Drench the kiss. Dip the song in the stream.”

DreamRunningPainSongLostLevelsGonePrideDrinkCostKissingRiversHotSorryWaveLovelyShouldersStreamsTemplesTidesFloodFrozenGiverFeverBrowsTranquilDipLovely Things
Book:Edna St. Vincent Millay: Selected Poems
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