by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
If I should learn, in some quite casual...
Language: English
If I should learn, in some quite casual way, That you were gone, not to return again -- Read from the back-page of a paper, say, Held by a neighbor in a subway train, How at the corner of this avenue And such a street (so are the papers filled) A hurrying man -- who happened to be you -- At noon to-day had happened to be killed, I should not cry aloud -- I could not cry Aloud, or wring my hands in such a place -- I should but watch the station lights rush by With a more careful interest on my face, Or raise my eyes and read with greater care Where to store furs and how to treat the hair.
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Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), no title, appears in Renascence and Other Poems, first published 1917 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Michael Cohen , "If I should learn" [SATB chorus and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 119