by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
Clearly my ruined garden as it stood
Language: English
Clearly my ruined garden as it stood Before the frost came on it I recall— Stiff marigolds, and what a trunk of wood The zinnia had, that was the first to fall; These pale and oozy stalks, these hanging leaves Nerveless and darkened, dripping in the sun, Cannot gainsay me, though the spirit grieves And wrings its hands at what the frost has done. If in a widening silence you should guess I read the moment with recording eyes, Taking your love and all your loveliness Into a listening body hushed of sighs … Though summer's rife and the warm rose in season, Rebuke me not: I have a winter reason.
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Text 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 Elinor Remick Warren (1900 - 1991), "Clearly my ruined garden as it stood", alternate title: "Clearly my ruined garden as it stood", published 1974 [ soprano and string quartet or strings ], from Sonnets [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-10-10
Line count: 14
Word count: 111