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Article: Edna St. Vincent Millay. (A new poem).(Poem)
- Article from:
- New Criterion
- Article date:
- February 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Foundation for Cultural Review. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Edna St. Vincent Millay
(1892-1950)
Unquiet spirit, by what right
Do I come to disturb your dust
In this omniscient October light
A half century almost from the day
You rambled down your library stairs
Into eternal night? By what right
Do I invade the dignity of your house,
Ransack the closets, shelves and drawers,
Measuring your dresses and jewelry,
Picturing you alive, challenging me?
I breathe deep, hoping a sweet scent
Of you, long breathless, might arise,
Some stray atom of your spirit meant
For mine alone. We are not so different
Maybe--man, woman, alive or dead,
Souls confronting the inarticulate.
I ...