Renascence and Other Poems

by

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Contents:

Renascence
All I could see from where I stood

Interim
The room is full of you!—As I came in

The Suicide
"Curse thee, Life, I will live with thee no more!

God's World
O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!

Afternoon on a Hill
I will be the gladdest thing

Sorrow
Sorrow like a ceaseless rain

Tavern
I'll keep a little tavern

Ashes of Life
Love has gone and left me and the days are all alike;

The Little Ghost
I knew her for a little ghost

Kin to Sorrow
Am I kin to Sorrow,

Three Songs of Shattering

I
The first rose on my rose-tree

II
Let the little birds sing;

III
All the dog-wood blossoms are underneath the tree!

The Shroud
Death, I say, my heart is bowed

The Dream
Love, if I weep it will not matter,

Indifference
I said,—for Love was laggard, O, Love was slow to come,—

Witch-Wife
She is neither pink nor pale,

Blight
Hard seeds of hate I planted

When the Year Grows Old
I cannot but remember

Sonnets

I
Thou art not lovelier than lilacs,—no,

II
Time does not bring relief; you all have lied

III
Mindful of you the sodden earth in spring,

IV
Not in this chamber only at my birth—

V
If I should learn, in some quite casual way,

VI       Bluebeard
This door you might not open, and you did;

Renascence and Other Poems

Renascence

All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked another way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I'd started from;
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.
Over these things I could not see;
These were the things that bounded me;
And I could touch them with my hand,
Almost, I thought, from where I stand.
And all at once things seemed so small
My breath came short, and scarce at all.
But, sure, the sky is big, I said;
Miles and miles above my head;
So here upon my back I'll lie
And look my fill into the sky.
And so I looked, and, after all,
The sky was not so very tall.
The sky, I said, must somewhere stop,
And—sure enough!—I see the top!
The sky, I thought, is not so grand;
I 'most could touch it with my hand!
And reaching up my hand to try,
I screamed to feel it touch the sky.
I screamed, and—lo!—Infinity