by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
Now by this moon, before this moon shall...
Language: English
Now by this moon, before this moon shall wane I shall be dead or I shall be with you! No moral concept can outweigh the pain Past rack and wheel this absence puts me through; Faith, honour, pride, endurance, what the tongues Of tedious men will say, or what the law -- For which of these do I fill up my lungs With brine and fire at every breath I draw? Time, and to spare, for patience by and by, Time to be cold and time to sleep alone; Let me no more until the hour I die Defraud my innocent senses of their own. Before this moon shall darken, say of me: She's in her grave, or where she wants to be.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), no title, appears in Fatal Interview, first published 1931 [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 Ellis Bonoff Kohs (b. 1916), "Absence" [ low voice and piano ], from Fatal Interview [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jay Poûhe (b. 1935), "Now by this moon, before this moon shall wane", published 1971 [ medium voice and piano ], from The Amorous Line, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-10-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 122