Edna St. Vincent Millay

Name: A Few Figs from Thistles
Author: Edna St. Vincent Millay

A Few Figs from Thistles

Summary

“A Few Figs from Thistles”, is a work by Edna St. Vincent Millay. It explores elements such as Arth, Sweet and ferry.

Quotes from A Few Figs from Thistles (Edna St. Vincent Millay)

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ And Agatha's Arth' is a hug-the-hearth,—
But my true love's a rover!
Mig, her man's as good as cheese
And honest as a briar,
Sue tells her love what he's thinking of,—
But my dear lad's a liar!
Oh, Sue and Prue and Agatha
Are thick with Mig and Joan!
They bite their threads and shake their heads
And gnaw my name like a bone;
And Prue says, "Mine's a patient man,
As never snaps me up,"
And Agatha, "Arth' is a hug-the-hearth,
Could live content in a cup;" ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, "Good morrow, mother!" to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, "God bless you!" for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
Thursday
And if I loved you Wednesday,
Well, what is that to you?
I do not love you Thursday—
So much is true.
And why you come complaining
Is more than I can see. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ I should be kept awake
As many nights as there are days
With weeping for your sake?
And what are you that, missing you,
As many days as crawl
I should be listening to the wind
And looking at the wall?
I know a man that's a braver man
And twenty men as kind,
And what are you, that you should be
The one man in my mind?
Yet women's ways are witless ways,
As any sage will tell,—
And what am I, that I should love
So wisely and so well? ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ The Carthaginian rose?
The fabric of my faithful love
No power shall dim or ravel
Whilst I stay here,—but oh, my dear,
If I should ever travel!
Macdougal Street
As I went walking up and down to take the evening air,
(Sweet to meet upon the street, why must I be so shy?)
I saw him lay his hand upon her torn black hair;
("Little dirty Latin child, let the lady by!")
The women squatting on the stoops were slovenly and fat,
(Lay me out in organdie, lay me out in lawn!) ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ Still must the poet as of old,
In barren attic bleak and cold,
Starve, freeze, and fashion verses to
Such things as flowers and song and you;
Still as of old his being give
In Beauty's name, while she may live,
Beauty that may not die as long
As there are flowers and you and song. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ But you are mobile as the veering air,
And all your charms more changeful than the tide,
Wherefore to be inconstant is no care:
I have but to continue at your side.
So wanton, light and false, my love, are you,
I am most faithless when I most am true. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ 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!" ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ 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! ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

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

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ 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? ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles

“ 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 off the other end! ”

[↩︎]

Source: Gutenberg

Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs from Thistles