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54th out of 975 books
—
1,010 voters
Collected Poems
Compiled by her sister after the poet's death and originally published in 1956, this is the definitive edition of Millay, right up through her last poem, "Mine the Harvest,"
Paperback, 768 pages
Published
July 10th 1981
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1956)
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I passed by "Savage Beauty" years ago, struck by the picture of the woman on the cover. It was a bio of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. I'd never heard of her, but she looked like something out of The Great Gatsby. I decided to pick up her poetry finally, and the first one I turned to was "Renascence." I've adored various poets- Neruda, Angelou, Noyes, but I felt this one poem more deeply than years of literature put together. A poem's never done that to me- I was shocked, tearful, joyous, frozen...more
I love this book. I don't read much poetry, but Edna St. Vincent Millay is one of the best poets I've ever read. Wonderful stuff.
While there are still poems in this big, big book I have not read, I read until my heart was content. Edna is a poet to return to again, and these poems leave a lingering taste. Her voice is unique, yet she keeps the meter I've admired in traditional poetry, and she also brings a fresh voice to the subject matter of love and death and transience using natural imagery and some sarcasm/wit. I usually like to read smaller single author collections or anthologies, so my not completing this one in it...more
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 a 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...more
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 a 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...more
It's eerie, when I read her poems, theya re so familiar to me, so similiar to the way I write. I jokingly wondered if I used to be her...most people say they used to be Elvis, or Cleopatra, or John Kennedy...I wonder if I was this totured poet.
The poems are deeply disturbing decents into hell, a mourning song of longing and of death. You can feel the grief of someone left alone to fend for herself in the world. I the poem "The Suicide", you feel deeply distubed by the overwhelmingly familiar fee...more
The poems are deeply disturbing decents into hell, a mourning song of longing and of death. You can feel the grief of someone left alone to fend for herself in the world. I the poem "The Suicide", you feel deeply distubed by the overwhelmingly familiar fee...more
I would submit that Edna St. Vincent Millay may be the most underrated poet in the English language.
Was she a formalist, and therefore out of vogue? Too bad. Was she a naughty girl, and therefore sent to a place less than nice when she died? More power to her; I'm sure she felt right at home.
The woman who, as an undergrad at Vassar, defied the president of the college to expel her and was told "What? "And have a banished Shelley on my doorstep?" -- and who then allegedly responded "On those term...more
Was she a formalist, and therefore out of vogue? Too bad. Was she a naughty girl, and therefore sent to a place less than nice when she died? More power to her; I'm sure she felt right at home.
The woman who, as an undergrad at Vassar, defied the president of the college to expel her and was told "What? "And have a banished Shelley on my doorstep?" -- and who then allegedly responded "On those term...more
Mar 28, 2010
Annabelle705
added it
I would like it if this poem could be read with this song playing in the background, softly preferably. Thank you for your consideration. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBiuQl... -This is the link!!
SO, this is my creative response and i did a poem:
Sometimes I have to remind myself,
I can, I will, I must.
Triumph over the necessities and find the wants
I mustn’t be stopped by the inferior race of people who find it casual to talk of others in such a cavalier manner! Let their lives be run by the de...more
SO, this is my creative response and i did a poem:
Sometimes I have to remind myself,
I can, I will, I must.
Triumph over the necessities and find the wants
I mustn’t be stopped by the inferior race of people who find it casual to talk of others in such a cavalier manner! Let their lives be run by the de...more
There is so much to praise here, where do I start? How can I possibly communicate what these poems mean to me? "Renascence" alone takes my breath away - "The soul can split the sky in two, And let the face of God shine through." These words too, allow the divine to shine through. "Interim" is, perhaps, as beutiful a poem as I have ever read. The author brilliantly captures the essence of loss, that grief and confusion, the mind's inability to accept the notion of a life alone: "...part of your h...more
Crazy ol' Edna...what a nut. No, really. She was crazy. But she wrote some great poetry. The best, "Rennaisance," is my all-time favorite.
Jun 06, 2009
Meredith
marked it as poetry
"Dirge Without Music"
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.
Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains, --- but the best is lost.
The answers quick &...more
One does not expect to come across poetic treasures in English while randomly browsing for mindless stuff to read, at least not when browsing in a bookshop in Belgium, but I wasn't going to let this one slip by. I've wanted to read more of her work since I read An Ancient Gesture. So much of her poetry is haunting, and terribly moving; very glad I found this.
I don't know why exactly, maybe because I am also the oldest of three girls, but I connected immediately to Millay's poetry. I am grateful that I never read her in an English classroom and instead had the pleasure of experiencing her work on my own. There is a peculiar mixture of gloom and energy in her poetry, and I can't off the top of my head think of another poet who hit that strangely satisfying note as successfully or consistently; contemplative like Frost, but with a sharper bite.
This is a 1956 UK edition published by Hamish Hamilton. I was pleased to find it in the library and am wandering through it page by page. I like Interim
"I picked the first sweet pea today."...more
Today! Was there an opening bud beside it
You left until tomorrow?- O my love,
The things that withered,- and you came not back!
That day you filled this circle of my arms
That now is empty. (O my empty life!)
That day- that day you picked the first sweet pea,-
And brought it in to show me! I recall
With terrible dis
even though i don't think she is the strongest poet of the modern age, i relish edna st. vincent millay's poetry for personal reasons. ESVM is my mother's favorite poet, and she fell in love with her when she was my age -- a spirited young feminist at the University of Missouri in the 60s. images of mom pouring over these lyrical poems while laying on the quad lend extra magic to this collection. and i have her copy!
favorite poems:
- Lament
- First Fig
- Recuerdo
favorite poems:
- Lament
- First Fig
- Recuerdo
The Spring and the Fall
In the spring of the year, in the spring of the year,
I walked the road beside my dear.
The trees were black where the bark was wet.
I see them yet, in the spring of the year.
He broke me a bough of the blossoming peach
That was out of the way and hard to reach.
In the fall of the year, in the fall of the year,
I walked the road beside my dear.
The rooks went up with a raucous trill.
I hear them still, in the fall of the year.
He laughed at all I dared to praise,
And broke...more
In the spring of the year, in the spring of the year,
I walked the road beside my dear.
The trees were black where the bark was wet.
I see them yet, in the spring of the year.
He broke me a bough of the blossoming peach
That was out of the way and hard to reach.
In the fall of the year, in the fall of the year,
I walked the road beside my dear.
The rooks went up with a raucous trill.
I hear them still, in the fall of the year.
He laughed at all I dared to praise,
And broke...more
I’m not sure what to think about her poems. Some I really loved while others are morbid and she sounds almost suicidal. It’s funny though because reading her poems I either love or hate them. None are middle ground for me, or just alright. I feel they are either great or terrible but I’m still a fan.
To completely immerse yourself in poetry, especially poetry this evocative and beautifully written, is a treat. Moreover, St. Vincent Millay is not a poet to whom I ever paid a lot of attention, nor did I study her writing at school. This has only made her poetry more special, discovering most of it when I'm older and probably better able to appreciate it. Loved the Collected Poems and would highly recommend.
Edna St. Vincent Millay (Rockland, 1892-1950) was very popular in her day but not ours. She was the first woman to win a Pulitzer in poetry (1923). She lived in Camden until she was twenty, and summered on Ragged Island near Harpswell.
My favorite poet. The new female voice, as first heard, way before the 60's had the temerity to act on about women's freedoms. She spoke to my heart, with more bravery than I had at the time, and taught me to live my feelings/
Millay is perhaps one of the most brilliant poets I have ever read. She writes so beautifully and truly. I would recommend this collection to anyone who even remotely enjoys poetry.
This made excellent bathroom reading (which, believe it or not, is a big compliment in my book). I'll be re-re-reading all of the poems, out loud, at different times of day, in different moods and will enjoy discovering something new each time.
Millay has such a wonderful flow, and her poems are so approachable. Powerful but tangible; you don't have to work to get something out of them, but if you do take the time for a studious re-read, you just find more things to appreciate.
If you're not already a Millay fan and don't feel like tackling her collected works, give the Renascence collection a try; it's my favourite original release.
If you're not already a Millay fan and don't feel like tackling her collected works, give the Renascence collection a try; it's my favourite original release.
May 03, 2009
Eric
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone with an appreciation of language
Recommended to Eric by:
First read Millay in college humanities course
Exquisite sense of beauty, mastery of language, image, music, and every poem shot through with libido.
Millay was one of the all-time masters of the English language.
Millay was one of the all-time masters of the English language.
Millay's poetry can sound a little old-fashioned, melodramatic, even childish to modern ears--but readers should be aware that Millay was a brilliant dramatist, and her poems are often playful, ironic, or even satirical echoes of Victorian-era poetry, fairy tales, and the pop culture of her own era (the 1920s). She'll assume a child-like voice at times only to undermine its "innocence" and "purity" with very frank discussions of desire, sexuality, anger, abandonment, alcoholism, and art. She was...more
A Household Favorite. Read all about it here: http://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2...
Discovered in college and one of my all-time favorites. Several memorized including my favorite "Recuerdo".
Edna St. Vincent Millay is a wonderful poet and inspired woman. I love this book and her unique voice.
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 a 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...more
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 a 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...more
I have all of Edna's sonnets and poems, as well as her biography, "Savage Beauty" by Nancy Milford.
Once more into my arid days like dew,
Like wind from an oasis, or the sound
Of cold sweet water bubbling underground,
A treacherous messenger, the thought of you
Comes to destroy me; once more I renew
Firm faith in your abundance, whom I found
Long since to be but just one other mound
Of sand, whereon no green thing ever grew.
And once again, and wiser in no wise,
I chase your colored phantom on the air,
And sob and curse and fall and weep and rise
And stumble pitifully on to where,
Miserable and lost, with...more
Like wind from an oasis, or the sound
Of cold sweet water bubbling underground,
A treacherous messenger, the thought of you
Comes to destroy me; once more I renew
Firm faith in your abundance, whom I found
Long since to be but just one other mound
Of sand, whereon no green thing ever grew.
And once again, and wiser in no wise,
I chase your colored phantom on the air,
And sob and curse and fall and weep and rise
And stumble pitifully on to where,
Miserable and lost, with...more
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Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (the first woman to receive the Pulitzer for poetry).
This famous portrait of Vincent (as she was called by friends) was taken by Carl Van Vechten in 1933.
More about Edna St. Vincent Millay...
This famous portrait of Vincent (as she was called by friends) was taken by Carl Van Vechten in 1933.
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“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.”
—
352 people liked it
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light.”
“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.”
—
71 people liked it
More quotes…
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.”
Mar 31, 2009 01:46pm
Mar 31, 2009 02:36pm