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by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)

Not in a silver casket cool with pearls
Language: English 
Not in a silver casket cool with pearls
Or rich with red corundum or with blue,
Locked, and the key withheld, as other girls
Have given their loves, I give my love to you;
Not in a lovers'-knot, not in a ring
Worked in such fashion, and the legend plain -- 
Semper fidelis, where a secret spring
Kennels a drop of mischief for the brain:
Love in the open hand, no thing but that,
Ungemmed, unhidden, wishing not to hurt,
As one should bring you cowslips in a hat
Swung from the hand, or apples in her skirt,
I bring you, calling out as children do:
"Look what I have! -- And these are all for you."

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950) [author's text not yet checked 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 Jake Heggie (b. 1961), "Not in a silver casket cool with pearls", 1999, first performed 1999 [soprano and piano], from Songs and Sonnets to Ophelia, no. 3. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]
  • by Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman (b. 1949), "Not in a silver casket", op. 166 (2004), first performed 2004. [voice and piano] [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-04-30
Line count: 14
Word count: 115

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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