10.05.2006

Poetry Thursday

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

4 comments:

Felix said...

One of my favorite poets. Have you read her sonnets?

Steph said...

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?

Steph said...

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.

Felix said...

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...."