Recuerdo
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed "Good morrow, mother!" to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, "God bless you!" for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
10.05.2006
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4 comments:
One of my favorite poets. Have you read her sonnets?
I've read some of them. I have the Collected Works, but I haven't made my way through the whole thing yet. She is one of my favorites also. The first poem I ever read and immediately loved was Renascence. Do you have a favorite sonnet?
oh yes, and I also read the biography of her done by Nancy Milford, who wrote Zelda. I enjoyed it very much, and I recommend it as a good book, even for people who don't enjoy the poetry so much.
Too many favorites to list them all, but here are a few. Where the author didn't supply a title, I've used the first line in its place.
"Bluebeard"
"I know I am but summer to your heart..."
"Oh, oh, you will be sorry for that word!..." (Which, unfortunately, I cannot aspire to read to anyone, since it unequivocably demands a female voice)
"Your face is like a chamber where a king...."
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