WIST Quotations

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “Ebb,” The Nation (UK), Vol. 27, No. 4 (1920-04-24)

Dave — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 22:41:18 +0000

I know what my heart is like
Since your love died:
It is like a hollow ledge
Holding a little pool
Left there by the tide,
A little tepid pool,
Drying inward from the edge.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“Ebb,” The Nation (UK), Vol. 27, No. 4 (1920-04-24)
(Source)

Collected in Second April (1921).

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “Figs from Thistles: First Fig” in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse (1918-06)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night:
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends —
It gives a lovely light!

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“Figs from Thistles: First Fig” in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse (1918-06)
(Source)

Collected in A Few Figs From Thistles (1921).

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “Interim,” Renascence and Other Poems (1917)

Dave — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:40:17 +0000

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.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“Interim,” Renascence and Other Poems (1917)
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “Lament” (1921-03), The Century Magazine, Vol. 101 (74), No. 5

Dave — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 20:32:13 +0000

Life must go on:
I forget just why.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“Lament” (1921-03), The Century Magazine, Vol. 101 (74), No. 5
(Source)

Collected in Second April (1921).

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “Passer Mortuus Est”, st. 3, Second April (1921)

Dave — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 15:39:49 +0000

After all, my earstwhile dear,
My no longer cherished,
Need we say it was not love,
Now that love is perished?

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“Passer Mortuus Est”, st. 3, Second April (1921)
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “Spring,” ll. 13-15, Second April (1921)

Dave — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 21:44:36 +0000

Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“Spring,” ll. 13-15, Second April (1921)
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “The Penitent”, st. 3, A Few Figs from Thistles (1921)

Dave — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:59:48 +0000

So up I got in anger,
And took a book I had,
And put a ribbon on my hair
To please a passing lad.
And, “One thing there’s no getting by —
I’ve been a wicked girl.” said I;
“But if I can’t be sorry, why,
I might as well be glad!”

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“The Penitent”, st. 3, A Few Figs from Thistles (1921)
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “The Poet and His Book,” st. 6, Second April (1921)

Dave — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 05:29:22 +0000

Stranger, pause and look;
From the dust of ages
Lift this little book,
Turn the tattered pages,
Read me, do not let me die!
Search the fading letters, finding
Steadfast in the broken binding
All that once was I!

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“The Poet and His Book,” st. 6, Second April (1921)
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- “When I too long have looked upon your face,” ll. 5-8, Second April, Sonnet 7 (1921)

Dave — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 21:16:52 +0000

I turn away reluctant from your light,
And stand irresolute, a mind undone,
A silly, dazzled thing deprived of sight
From having looked too long upon the sun.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“When I too long have looked upon your face,” ll. 5-8, Second April, Sonnet 7 (1921)
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Fatal Interview: Sonnets, No. 30 (1931)

Dave — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 20:48:35 +0000

Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink
Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;
Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink
And rise and sink and rise and sink again;
Love can not fill the thickened lung with breath,
Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;
Yet many a man is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Fatal Interview: Sonnets, No. 30 (1931)
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Letter (1927-05-25) to Cora B. Millay

Dave — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 13:10:45 +0000

A person who publishes a book wilfully appears before the populace with his pants down.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Letter (1927-05-25) to Cora B. Millay
(Source)

Letter to her mother trying to calm Cora's nerves about sister Kathleen's impending first book of poetry. The letter is collected in Letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay (1952) [ed. Allan Ross MacDougall].

This passage is almost universally misquoted as "A person who publishes a book wilfully appears before the public with his pants down" (italics mine).

Another variant appears here. It shortens the first sentence, and then pulls in (and re-genders) two sentences from later in the letter:

A writer appears before the public with his pants down. If it is a good book, nothing can hurt him. If it is a bad book, nothing can help him.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Letter (1930-10-24) to Arthur Davison Ficke

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another — it’s one damn thing over & over — there’s the rub — first you get sick — then you get sicker — then you get not quite so sick — then you get hardly sick at all — then you get a little sicker — then you get a lot sicker — then you get not quite so sick — oh, hell.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Letter (1930-10-24) to Arthur Davison Ficke
(Source)

See Hubbard, Scalzi.

More information about this quotation: It’s Not True That Life Is One Damn Thing After Another—It’s One Damn Thing Over and Over – Quote Investigator®.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Letter to Whitter “Hal” Bynner and Arthur Davidson Ficke (1920)

Dave — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 01:09:36 +0000

Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the day-time, and falling into at night.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Letter to Whitter “Hal” Bynner and Arthur Davidson Ficke (1920)
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Play (1920), Aria da Capo

Dave — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 16:49:08 +0000

PIERROT:I love
Humanity; but I hate people.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Play (1920), Aria da Capo
(Source)

Millay's comment on the socialist movement.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1911), “Renascence” in Earle (ed.), The Lyric Year (1912)

Dave — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 22:57:24 +0000

Ah! Up then from the ground sprang I
And hailed the Earth with such a cry
As is not heard save from a man
Who has been dead, and lives again.
About the trees my arms I wound;
Like one gone mad I hugged the ground;
I raised my quivering arms on high;
I laughed and laughed into the sky.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1911), “Renascence” in Earle (ed.), The Lyric Year (1912)
(Source)

Collected in Renascence and Other Poems (1917).

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1920-03), “Spring,” ll. 16-18

Dave — Thu, 18 Dec 2025 22:01:20 +0000

It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1920-03), “Spring,” ll. 16-18

First published in The Chapbook, Vol. 2, No. 13 (1920-07). Collected in Second April (1921). A handwritten draft was dated 1920-03-21.

Graham Greene's Babbling April (1925) was named after these lines.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1920-11), “The Singing-Woman from the Wood’s Edge,” Vanity Fair, Vol. 14, No. 3

Dave — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 18:29:44 +0000

With him for a sire and her for a dam,
What should I be but just what I am?

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1920-11), “The Singing-Woman from the Wood’s Edge,” Vanity Fair, Vol. 14, No. 3
(Source)

Collected in A Few Figs from Thistles (1921).

"Singing-Woman" is usually hyphenated in collections, but in Vanity Fair it was rendered "Singin' Woman" and in the original publication in Figs as "Singingwoman".

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1920), “Grown-Up,” A Few Figs from Thistles, (1921, expanded ed.)

Dave — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 21:59:20 +0000

Was it for this I uttered prayers,
And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs,
That now, domestic as a plate,
I should retire at half-past eight?

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1920), “Grown-Up,” A Few Figs from Thistles, (1921, expanded ed.)
(Source)

The poem was not in the original 1920 publication.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1921-03), “Passer Mortuus est,” st. 1, The Century Magazine, Vol. 101/79, No. 5

Dave — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 22:08:08 +0000

Death devours all lovely things.
Lesbia with her sparrow
Shares the darkness. Presently
Every bed is narrow.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1921-03), “Passer Mortuus est,” st. 1, The Century Magazine, Vol. 101/79, No. 5

A reference to (and, in the title, quote from) Catullus' poem about the death of his beloved Lesbia's beloved sparrow (1, 2).

Collected in Second April (1921), with slightly different punctuation.

Death devours all lovely things;
Lesbia with her sparrow
Shares the darkness, -- presently
Every bed is narrow.

It is this latter punctuation that is generally used in later printings.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1921-10-31), “The Philosopher,” st. 1, Ainslee’s Magazine, Vol. 48, No. 3

Dave — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 22:16:41 +0000

And what are you that, missing you,
I should be kept awake
As many nights as there are days
With weeping for your sake?

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1921-10-31), “The Philosopher,” st. 1, Ainslee’s Magazine, Vol. 48, No. 3
(Source)

First collected in A Few Figs from Thistles (1922).

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1928-07), “Dirge without Music,” st. 1, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 157

Dave — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 19:55:09 +0000

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind.
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1928-07), “Dirge without Music,” st. 1, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 157
(Source)

Collected in The Buck In The Snow And Other Poems (1928).

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1928-07), “Dirge without Music,” st. 4, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 157

Dave — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 18:40:41 +0000

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1928-07), “Dirge without Music,” st. 4, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 157
(Source)

Collected in The Buck In The Snow And Other Poems (1928)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1934), “Conscientious Objector,” l. 8, Wine from These Grapes, sec. 4

Dave — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 21:41:01 +0000

I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death; I am not on his pay-roll.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1934), “Conscientious Objector,” l. 8, Wine from These Grapes, sec. 4
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1934), “On Thought in Harness,” Wine from These Grapes, Part 4 (1934)

Dave — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 03:01:18 +0000

Soar, eat ether, see what has never been seen; depart, be lost,
But climb.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1934), “On Thought in Harness,” Wine from These Grapes, Part 4 (1934)
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Poem (1940), “I must not die of pity; I must live,” ll. 12-14, Make Bright the Arrows, ch. 5 “Sonnets,” No. 6

Dave — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 23:27:44 +0000

If I would help the weak, I must be fed
In wit and purpose, pour away despair
And rinse the cup, eat happiness like bread.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Poem (1940), “I must not die of pity; I must live,” ll. 12-14, Make Bright the Arrows, ch. 5 “Sonnets,” No. 6
(Source)

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Sonnet 2: “Time does not bring relief,” Renascence: and Other Poems (1917)

Dave — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 16:39:08 +0000

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!

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Sonnet 2: “Time does not bring relief,” Renascence: and Other Poems (1917)
(Source)

The sonnets were not originally numbered, nor did they include titles. Later collections with this poem reduced the number of exclamation points (e.g.).

Millay, Edna St. Vincent -- Sonnet 43 “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,” ll. 9ff. (1920), The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems (1923)

Dave — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 16:47:16 +0000

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.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
Sonnet 43 “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,” ll. 9ff. (1920), The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems (1923)
(Source)

Originally published in Vanity Fair (1920-11).