Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)
Recuerdo
1We were very tired, we were very merry --
2We had gone back and forth all night upon the ferry.
3It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable --
4But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
5We lay on the hill-top underneath the moon;
6And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
7We were very tired, we were very merry --
8We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
9And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
10From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
11And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
12And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
13We were very tired, we were very merry,
14We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
15We hailed, "Good morrow, mother!" to a shawl-covered head,
16And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
17And she wept, "God bless you!" for the apples and the pears,
18And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
Notes
1] The title means "memory" (Spanish).
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, A Few Figs from Thistles: Poems and Sonnets (New York and London: Harper, 1922): 2-3. PS 3525 I495F4 Robarts Library.
First publication date:
May
1919
Publication date note: Published in Poetry
RPO poem editor: Ian Lancashire
RP edition: RPO 1998.
Recent editing: 4:2002/3/1
Composition date:
1920
Rhyme: aabbcc
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