Thou Art Not Lovelier Than Lilacs,-no

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Thou art not lovelier than lilacs,—no,
  Nor honeysuckle; thou art not more fair
  Than small white single poppies,—I can bear
Thy beauty; though I bend before thee, though
From left to right, not knowing where to go,
  I turn my troubled eyes, nor here nor there
  Find any refuge from thee, yet I swear
So has it been with mist,—with moonlight so.

Like him who day by day unto his draught
  Of delicate poison adds him one drop more
Till he may drink unharmed the death of ten,
Even so, inured to beauty, who have quaffed
  Each hour more deeply than the hour before,
I drink—and live—what has destroyed some men.

Next 10 Poems

• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Three Songs Of Shattering
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Thursday
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Time Does Not Bring Relief; You All Have Lied
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : To A Poet That Died Young
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : To Kathleen
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : To S. M.
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : To The Not Impossible Him
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Travel
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : We Talk Of Taxes, And I Call You Friend
• Edna St. Vincent Millay : Weeds

Previous 10 Poems

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