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Inspiration for the Spirit

A lovely place to wander for poetry and inspiration to soothe the soul

Home ▷ Edna St. Vincent Millay ▷ Say what you will, and scratch my heart to find

Say what you will, and scratch my heart to find

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

love hurtsSay what you will, and scratch my heart to find
The roots of last year’s roses in my breast;
I am as surely riper in my mind
As if the fruit stood in the stalls confessed.
Laugh at the unshed leaf, say what you will,
Call me in all things what I was before,
A flutterer in the wind, a woman still;
I tell you I am what I was and more.

My branches weigh me down, frost cleans the air,
My sky is black with small birds bearing south;
Say what you will, confuse me with fine care,
Put by my word as but an April truth,—
Autumn is no less on me that a rose
Hugs the brown bough and sighs before it goes.

Selection from “Eight Sonnets,” American Poetry 1922: A Miscellany. NEW YORK: HARCOURT, 1922. |
Source: Project Gutenberg.

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