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by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)

The Betrothal
Language: English 
Oh come, my lad, or go, my lad,
And love me if you like.
I shall not hear the door shut
Or the knocker strike.

Oh bring me gifts or beg me gifts,
And wed me if you will.
I'd make a man a good wife,
Sensible and still.

And why should I be cold, my lad,
And why should you repine,
Because I love a dark head
That never will be mine.

I might as well be easing you
As lie alone in bed
And waste the night in wanting
A cruel dark head.

You might as well be calling yours
What never will be his,
And one of us be happy --
There's few enough as is.

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 Lynn Steele (1951 - 2002), "The Betrothal" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Seven Songs of Edna St. Vincent Millay, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Scott Wheeler (b. 1952), "The Betrothal", 1990 [ soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Wasting the Night, no. 5, Scott Wheeler Music [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Lynn Steele

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 118

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