Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)
Lament
1Listen, children:
2Your father is dead.
3From his old coats
4I'll make you little jackets;
5I'll make you little trousers
6From his old pants.
7There'll be in his pockets
8Things he used to put there,
9Keys and pennies
10Covered with tobacco;
11Dan shall have the pennies
12To save in his bank;
13Anne shall have the keys
14To make a pretty noise with.
15Life must go on,
16And the dead be forgotten;
17Life must go on,
18Though good men die;
19Anne, eat your breakfast;
20Dan, take your medicine;
21Life must go on;
22I forget just why.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Edna St. Vincent Millay, Second April (New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1921): 64-65. B-11 3143 Fisher Rare Book Library.
First publication date:
March
1921
Publication date note: Published in Century
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 1998.
Recent editing: 4:2002/3/1
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