The Death Of Autumn

Edna St. Vincent Millay

When reeds are dead and a straw to thatch the marshes,
And feathered pampas-grass rides into the wind
Like aged warriors westward, tragic, thinned
Of half their tribe, and over the flattened rushes,
Stripped of its secret, open, stark and bleak,
Blackens afar the half-forgotten creek,—
Then leans on me the weight of the year, and crushes
My heart.  I know that Beauty must ail and die,
And will be born again,—but ah, to see
Beauty stiffened, staring up at the sky!
Oh, Autumn!  Autumn!—What is the Spring to me?

Next 10 Poems

• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Dream
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Little Ghost
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Little Hill
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Merry Maid
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Penitent
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Philosopher
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Poet And His Book
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Prisoner
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Shroud
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Singing-woman From The Wood's Edge

Previous 10 Poems

• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Blue-flag In The Bog
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : The Bean-stalk
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Tavern
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Spring
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Sorrow
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Song Of A Second April
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : She Is Overheard Singing
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Second Fig
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Rosemary
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Renascence