The Little Ghost - And Other Poems on Grief and Healing

Edna St. Vincent Millay

• Publisher: Ragged Hand - Read & Co.
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781528717649
• eBook ISBN: 9781528790758
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: American Poetry
• Index: Literature

"The Little Ghost - And Other Poems on Grief and Healing" is a collection of poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay all connected through the theme of death and dealing with loss. Celebrated for their lyrical beauty, Millay's poems are infused with fiery romance and the youthful spirit that would become a characteristic of her writing. Contents include: "The Little Ghost", "The Shroud", "Sonnet III", "Sonnet V", "Sonnet V", "Sonnet VIII", "Sonnet II", "Sonnet XI", "Sonnet XII", "To S. M. If He Should Lie A-Dying", "The Blue-Flag in the Bog", "Elegy Before Death", "Passer Mortuus Est", "The Poet and His Book", "Inland", "To a Poet that Died Young", etc. Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) was an American playwright, Pulitzer Prize-winning lyrical poet, and feminist activist. One of the most celebrated poets in American history, Millay is hailed as the twentieth century's most skillfull sonnet writers who expertly married modern attitudes with traditional forms of expression. Other notable works by this author include: "Two Slatterns and a King", "The Lamp and the Bell", and "Aria da Capo". Ragged Hand is publishing this brand new poetry collection for the enjoyment of a new generation of readers.

THE BLUE-FLAG IN THE BOG

God had called us, and we came;

Our loved Earth to ashes left;

Heaven was a neighbour’s house,

Open flung to us, bereft.

Gay the lights of Heaven showed,

And ’twas God Who walked ahead;

Yet I wept along the road,

Wanting my own house instead.

Wept unseen, unheeded cried,

“All you things my eyes have kissed,

Fare you well! We meet no more,

Lovely, lovely tattered mist!

Weary wings that rise and fall

All day long above the fire!”—

Red with heat was every wall,

Rough with heat was every wire—

“Fare you well, you little winds

That the flying embers chase!

Fare you well, you shuddering day,

With your hands before your face!

And, ah, blackened by strange blight,

Or to a false sun unfurled,

Now for evermore good-bye,

All the gardens in the world!

On the windless hills of Heaven,

That I have no wish to see,

White, eternal lilies stand,

By a lake of ebony.

But the Earth forevermore

Is a place where nothing grows,—

Dawn will come, and no bud break;

Evening, and no blossom close.

Spring will come, and wander slow

Over an indifferent land,

Stand beside an empty creek,

Hold a dead seed in her hand.”

God had called us, and we came,

But the blessed road I trod

Was a bi...

Table of contents

• THE LITTLE GHOST
• THE SHROUD
• SONNET III
• SONNET V
• SONNET V
• SONNET VIII
• SONNET IX
• SONNET XI
• SONNET XII
• TO S. M.
• THE BLUE-FLAG IN THE BOG
• ELEGY BEFORE DEATH
• PASSER MORTUUS EST
• THE POET AND HIS BOOK
• INLAND
• TO A POET THAT DIED YOUNG
• BURIAL
• MARIPOSA
• LAMENT
• MEMORIAL TO D. C.
• EPITAPH
• PRAYER TO PERSEPHONE
• CHORUS
• ELEGY
• DIRGE
• BIBLIOGRAPHY