Edna St. Vincent Millay

Rediscovering Edna...

First Fig

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! 

Second Fig 

Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand: 
Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand!                                                                

What lips my lips have kissed~Sonnet XLIII  

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 know 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. 

Grown Up

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?

Midnight Oil

Cut if you will, with Sleep's dull knife, 

        Each day to half its length, my friend,

The years that Time takes off my life, 

        He'll take from the other end!