by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
Oh, think not I am faithful to a vow!
Language: English
Oh, think not I am faithful to a vow! Faithless am I save to love's self alone. Were you not lovely I would leave you now: After the feet of beauty fly my own. Were you not still my hunger's rarest food, And water ever to my wildest thirst, I would desert you -- think not but I would! -- And seek another as I sought you first. But you are mobile as the veering air, And all your charms more changeful than the tide, Wherefore to be inconstant is no care: I have but to continue at your side. So wanton, light and false, my love, are you, I am most faithless when I most am true.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), no title, appears in A Few Figs from Thistles, first published 1920 [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 Jay Poûhe (b. 1935), "Oh, think not I am faithful to a vow!", published 1971 [ medium voice and piano ], from The Amorous Line, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 116