Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

98 Top Edna St. Vincent Millay Quotes For A Better Understanding Of Life

Famous As: Poet
Born On: February 22, 1892
Died On: October 19, 1950
Born In: Rockland, Maine, United States
Died At Age: 58

Edna St. Vincent Millay was a celebrated American poet, writer and activist who wrote some of the best sonnets in the world. She was honored with many awards for her work. It is a lesser-known fact that she is one of the few female poets to receive the prestigious “Pulitzer Prize for Poetry” for her work ‘The Ballad of the Harp Weaver’. Her novel titled ‘A Few Figs from Thistles’ raised a few eyebrows as it preached about female sexuality and feminism. The general theme of her work was based on individualism and contemplation of oneself through spirituality in the face of oppression due to gender bias. It glorified women rights and feministic approach which inspired many women to view matters of life in a different manner. Her work intended to spark a revolution for changing the mindset of a common man in the society. Even though she died early, her legacy remains forever in the hearts of the womenfolk in her country and all over the globe. Being a noted writer and poet, she shared her thoughts and views on several things. Many of her thoughts have become famous as her quotes and they are quoted extensively. We have compiled Edna St. Vincent Millay’s quotes from her writings, speeches etc. Browse through Edna Millay’s quotes on aging, beauty, books, children, earth, god, grief, hate, death, love, memories, hills, rain, sleep, songs, summer and much more.

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They say when you are missing someone that they are probably feeling the same, but I don't think it's possible for you to miss me as much as I'm missing you right now

They say when you are missing someone that they are probably feeling the same, but I don't think it's possible for you to miss me as much as I'm missing you right now

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year.

I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.

Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it.

Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing,
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,
No matter where it's going.

My heart is warm with the friends I make, And better friends I'll not be knowing, Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take, No matter where it's going.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
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!

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
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely.

Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.

I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age. The child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.

Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age. The child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
After all my erstwhile dear, my no longer cherished; 
Need we say it was not love, just because it perished?

After all my erstwhile dear, my no longer cherished; Need we say it was not love, just because it perished?

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one.

I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it's one damn thing over and over.

It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it's one damn thing over and over.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I love humanity but I hate people.

I love humanity but I hate people.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
You see, I am a poet, and not quite right in the head, darling. It’s only that.

You see, I am a poet, and not quite right in the head, darling. It’s only that.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
What should I be
but just what I am?

What should I be but just what I am?

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Pity me that the heart is slow to learn
What the swift mind beholds at every turn.

Pity me that the heart is slow to learn What the swift mind beholds at every turn.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Night falls fast.
Today is in the past.

Blown from the dark hill hither to my door
Three flakes, then four
Arrive, then many more.

Night falls fast. Today is in the past. Blown from the dark hill hither to my door Three flakes, then four Arrive, then many more.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Ebb

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.

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

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

Edna St. Vincent Millay
There is no shelter in you anywhere.

There is no shelter in you anywhere.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
The longest absence is less perilous to love than the terrible trials of incessant proximity.

The longest absence is less perilous to love than the terrible trials of incessant proximity.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Lost in Hell,-Persephone,
Take her head upon your knee;
Say to her,

Lost in Hell,-Persephone, Take her head upon your knee; Say to her, "My dear, my dear, It is not so dreadful here.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
No one but Night, with tears on her dark face, watches beside me in this windy place.

No one but Night, with tears on her dark face, watches beside me in this windy place.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Music, my rampart and my only one.

Music, my rampart and my only one.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
This book, when I am dead, will be
A little faint perfume of me.
People who knew me well will say,
She really used to think that way.

This book, when I am dead, will be A little faint perfume of me. People who knew me well will say, She really used to think that way.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
She is happy where she lies 
With the dust upon her eyes.

She is happy where she lies With the dust upon her eyes.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
A person who publishes a book willfully appears before the populace with his pants down. If it is a good book nothing can hurt him. If it is a bad book nothing can help him.

A person who publishes a book willfully appears before the populace with his pants down. If it is a good book nothing can hurt him. If it is a bad book nothing can help him.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
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.

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
Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it. (in a letter written while she was in college)

Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it. (in a letter written while she was in college)

Edna St. Vincent Millay
You are loved. If so, what else matters?

You are loved. If so, what else matters?

Edna St. Vincent Millay
There is no God.
But it does not matter.
Man is enough.

There is no God. But it does not matter. Man is enough.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
The heart can push the sea and land
Farther away on either hand;
The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.

The heart can push the sea and land Farther away on either hand; The soul can split the sky in two, And let the face of God shine through.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I will come back to you, I swear I will;
And you will know me still.
I shall be only a little taller
Than when I went.

I will come back to you, I swear I will; And you will know me still. I shall be only a little taller Than when I went.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I know, but I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

I know, but I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I would blossom if I were a rose.

I would blossom if I were a rose.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Life must go on; I forget just why.

Life must go on; I forget just why.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
A Poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay:

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?

A Poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay: 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?

Edna St. Vincent Millay
But you, you foolish girl, you have gone home to a leaky castle across the sea to lie awake in linen smelling of lavender, and hear the nightingale, and long for me.

But you, you foolish girl, you have gone home to a leaky castle across the sea to lie awake in linen smelling of lavender, and hear the nightingale, and long for me.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
And must I then, indeed, Pain, live with you
all through my life?-sharing my fire, my bed,
Sharing-oh, worst of all things!-the same head?-
And, when I feed myself, feeding you too?

And must I then, indeed, Pain, live with you all through my life?-sharing my fire, my bed, Sharing-oh, worst of all things!-the same head?- And, when I feed myself, feeding you too?

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Night falls fast. Today is in the past.

Night falls fast. Today is in the past.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
That which has quelled me, lives with me, Accomplice in catastrophe.

That which has quelled me, lives with me, Accomplice in catastrophe.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Guess I'll weep awhile. Guess I won't, I mean.

Guess I'll weep awhile. Guess I won't, I mean.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Cruel of heart, lay down my song. Your reading eyes have done me wrong. Not for you was the pen bitten, And the mind wrung, and the song written.

Cruel of heart, lay down my song. Your reading eyes have done me wrong. Not for you was the pen bitten, And the mind wrung, and the song written.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Second Fig

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

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

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I do not think there is a woman in whom the roots of passion shoot deeper than in me.

I do not think there is a woman in whom the roots of passion shoot deeper than in me.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
To a Young Poet

Time cannot break the bird's wing from the bird.
Bird and wing together
Go down, one feather.

No thing that ever flew,
Not the lark, not you,
Can die as others do.

To a Young Poet Time cannot break the bird's wing from the bird. Bird and wing together Go down, one feather. No thing that ever flew, Not the lark, not you, Can die as others do.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I dread no more the first white in my hair,
Or even age itself, the easy shoe,
The cane, the wrinkled hands, the special chair:
Time, doing this to me, may alter too
My anguish, into something I can bear

I dread no more the first white in my hair, Or even age itself, the easy shoe, The cane, the wrinkled hands, the special chair: Time, doing this to me, may alter too My anguish, into something I can bear

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I, being born a woman and distressed By all the needs and notions of my kind...

I, being born a woman and distressed By all the needs and notions of my kind...

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Childhood Is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies.

Childhood Is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
And he whose soul is flat -- the sky
Will cave in on him by and by.

And he whose soul is flat -- the sky Will cave in on him by and by.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
When I can make
Of ten small words a rope to hang the world!

When I can make Of ten small words a rope to hang the world! "I had you and I have you now no more.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
And her voice is a string of colored beads,
Or steps leading into the sea.

And her voice is a string of colored beads, Or steps leading into the sea.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
A person who publishes a book appears willfully in public eye with his pants down.

A person who publishes a book appears willfully in public eye with his pants down.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Ah, I could lay me down in this long grass
And close my eyes, and let the quiet wind
Blow over me

Ah, I could lay me down in this long grass And close my eyes, and let the quiet wind Blow over me

Edna St. Vincent Millay
When you are corn and roses and at rest
I shall endure, a dense and sanguine ghost
To haunt the scene where I was happiest
To bend above the thing I loved the most

When you are corn and roses and at rest I shall endure, a dense and sanguine ghost To haunt the scene where I was happiest To bend above the thing I loved the most

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Oh, friend, forget not, when you fain would note
In me a beauty that was never mine,
How first you knew me in a book I wrote,
How first you loved me for a written line....

Oh, friend, forget not, when you fain would note In me a beauty that was never mine, How first you knew me in a book I wrote, How first you loved me for a written line....

Edna St. Vincent Millay
But you were something more than young and sweet
And fair, - and the long year remembers you.

But you were something more than young and sweet And fair, - and the long year remembers you.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I saw and heard, and knew at last
The How and Why of all things, past,
and present, and forevermore.

I saw and heard, and knew at last The How and Why of all things, past, and present, and forevermore.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
How first you knew me in a book I wrote,
How first you loved me for a written line

How first you knew me in a book I wrote, How first you loved me for a written line

Edna St. Vincent Millay
But she was not made for any man, and she will never be all mine.

But she was not made for any man, and she will never be all mine.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
A ghost in marble of a girl you knew
Who would have loved you in a day or two.

A ghost in marble of a girl you knew Who would have loved you in a day or two.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
She learned her hands in a fairy-tale,
And her mouth on a valentine.

She learned her hands in a fairy-tale, And her mouth on a valentine.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Take up the song; forget the epitaph.

Take up the song; forget the epitaph.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
The undercurrent of my every thought:
To seek you, find you, have you for my own.

The undercurrent of my every thought: To seek you, find you, have you for my own.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
... but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight

... but the rain Is full of ghosts tonight

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Tea was sucha comfort.

Tea was sucha comfort.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Parrots, tortoises and redwoods live a longer life than men do; Men a longer life than dogs do; Dogs a longer life than love does.

Parrots, tortoises and redwoods live a longer life than men do; Men a longer life than dogs do; Dogs a longer life than love does.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
The younger generation forms a country of its own.

The younger generation forms a country of its own.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
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.

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.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Degraded bird, I give you back your eyes forever, ascend now whither you are tossed;
Forsake this wrist, forsake this rhyme;
Soar, eat ether, see what has never been seen; depart, be lost,
But climb.

Degraded bird, I give you back your eyes forever, ascend now whither you are tossed; Forsake this wrist, forsake this rhyme; Soar, eat ether, see what has never been seen; depart, be lost, But climb.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Yet here one time your spirit was wont to move;
Here might I hope to find you day or night,
And here I come to look for you, my love,
Even now, foolishly, knowing you are dead.

Yet here one time your spirit was wont to move; Here might I hope to find you day or night, And here I come to look for you, my love, Even now, foolishly, knowing you are dead.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I would I were alive again to kiss the fingers of the rain.

I would I were alive again to kiss the fingers of the rain.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
One things there's no getting by,
I've been a wicked girl,
Says I...
But, if I can't be sorry I might as well be glad !

One things there's no getting by, I've been a wicked girl, Says I... But, if I can't be sorry I might as well be glad !

Edna St. Vincent Millay
...but the rain 
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh 
Upon the glass and listen for reply...

...but the rain Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh Upon the glass and listen for reply...

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Catch from the board of beauty/ Such careless crumbs as fall.

Catch from the board of beauty/ Such careless crumbs as fall.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Into the darkness they go, the wise & the lovely

Into the darkness they go, the wise & the lovely

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Learn to love blackness while there is yet time, blackness
Unpatterned, blackness without horizons.

Learn to love blackness while there is yet time, blackness Unpatterned, blackness without horizons.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
But the roaring of the fire,
And the warmth of fur,
And the boiling of the kettle
Were beautiful to her!

But the roaring of the fire, And the warmth of fur, And the boiling of the kettle Were beautiful to her!

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Relaxing me from head to feet
Love masters me, the bitter sweet
O'er thy limbs breathing;
Yea, Eros now, the god born blind
Sweeps my soul like the mountain wind
Through the oaks seething.

Relaxing me from head to feet Love masters me, the bitter sweet O'er thy limbs breathing; Yea, Eros now, the god born blind Sweeps my soul like the mountain wind Through the oaks seething.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Searching my heart for its true sorrow, This is the thing I find to be: That I am weary of words and people, Sick of the city, wanting the sea.

Searching my heart for its true sorrow, This is the thing I find to be: That I am weary of words and people, Sick of the city, wanting the sea.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Unlike most people, I kept my mouth shut about the man I was living with.

Unlike most people, I kept my mouth shut about the man I was living with.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Hard, hard it is, this anxious autumn
To lift the heavy mind from its dark forebodings;

Hard, hard it is, this anxious autumn To lift the heavy mind from its dark forebodings;

Edna St. Vincent Millay
The breath of dying lilies haunted the twilight air.

The breath of dying lilies haunted the twilight air.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
A wind with a wolf's head
Howled about our door,
And we burned up the chairs
And sat upon the floor.

A wind with a wolf's head Howled about our door, And we burned up the chairs And sat upon the floor.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Handsome, this day: no matter who has died.

Handsome, this day: no matter who has died.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
So come on out, my dear old sweet Sister, - & we'll open our oysters together.

So come on out, my dear old sweet Sister, - & we'll open our oysters together.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Heart, have no pity on this house of bone:
Shake it with dancing, break it down with joy.

Heart, have no pity on this house of bone: Shake it with dancing, break it down with joy.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I will control myself, or go inside.
I will not flaw perfection with my grief.
Handsome, this day: no matter who has died.

I will control myself, or go inside. I will not flaw perfection with my grief. Handsome, this day: no matter who has died.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
I have learned to fail. And I have had my say.

I have learned to fail. And I have had my say.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Into each dance must be packed the panic and ecstasy of her last moment of life, for underneath was death.

Into each dance must be packed the panic and ecstasy of her last moment of life, for underneath was death.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Who's that knocking on my grave and will not let me sleep, a year has one

Who's that knocking on my grave and will not let me sleep, a year has one

Edna St. Vincent Millay
About the trees my arms I wound;
Like one going mad I hugged the ground;
I raised my quivering arms on high;
I laughed and laughed into the sky.

About the trees my arms I wound; Like one going mad I hugged the ground; I raised my quivering arms on high; I laughed and laughed into the sky.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
The sun that warmed our stooping backs and withered the weed
uprooted-
We shall not feel it again.
We shall die in darkness, and be buried in the rain.

The sun that warmed our stooping backs and withered the weed uprooted- We shall not feel it again. We shall die in darkness, and be buried in the rain.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
And you as well must die, beloved dust,
And all your beauty stand you in no stead;
This flawless, vital hand, this perfect head,
This body of flame and steel, before the gust.

And you as well must die, beloved dust, And all your beauty stand you in no stead; This flawless, vital hand, this perfect head, This body of flame and steel, before the gust.

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Along my body, waking while I sleep,
Sharp to the kiss, cold to the hand as snow,
The scar of this encounter like a sword

Along my body, waking while I sleep, Sharp to the kiss, cold to the hand as snow, The scar of this encounter like a sword

Edna St. Vincent Millay
Not only under ground are the brains of men Eaten by maggots, Life in itself Is nothing, An empty cup,

Not only under ground are the brains of men Eaten by maggots, Life in itself Is nothing, An empty cup,

Edna St. Vincent Millay
The Prisoner

All right,
Go ahead!
What's in a name?
I guess I'll be locked into
As much as I'm locked out of!

The Prisoner All right, Go ahead! What's in a name? I guess I'll be locked into As much as I'm locked out of!

Edna St. Vincent Millay