Sonnet XLIII | What lips my lips have kissed | What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why

by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)

What lips my lips have kissed, and...

Language: English

Our translations: FRI GER

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

About the headline (FAQ)

First published in Vanity Fair, November 1920

Text Authorship:

by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "Sonnet XLIII", appears in The Harp-Weaver and other poems, in Sonnets from an Ungrafted Tree, first published 1923 [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 Carl Alette (b. 1922), "What lips my lips have kissed", published 1963 [ medium voice and piano ], from Three Secular Songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "What lips my lips have kissed", 1991 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jack Hamilton Beeson (b. 1921), "What lips my lips have kissed", 1992 [ voice and piano ], from Two Millay Sonnets, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990), "What lips my lips have kissed", published 1977 [ vocal sextet with orchestra ], from Songfest, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
by Margaret Bonds (1913 - 1972), "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed" [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs on poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
by David Del Tredici (1937 - 2023), "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed", subtitle: "Song of Loss and Pain", 2004, first performed 2004 [ voice and piano ], from On Wings of Song, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Jonathan Dove (b. 1959), "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why", 2015, first performed 2015 [ voice and piano ], from Nights Not Spent Alone, no. 2, confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
by Michael Armand Fink (b. 1939), "What lips my lips have kissed", published 1963 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Jake Heggie (b. 1961), "What lips my lips have kissed", 1998, first performed 1998 [ mezzo-soprano, cello and piano ], from Before the Storm, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Alva Henderson (b. 1940), "What lips my lips have kissed...", 1994, from Love is not all... , no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Robert Kelly (b. 1916), "What lips my lips have kissed", 1964 [ soprano and piano ], from Song Cycle [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Manno (b. 1944), "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why", published 1975 [ soprano, piano ], from Portrait of Millay, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by William Mayer (b. 1925), "What lips my lips have kissed" [ mezzo-soprano, flute, and harp ], from Passage [sung text checked 1 time]
by Jay Poûhe (b. 1935), "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why", published 1971 [ medium voice and piano ], from The Amorous Line, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ian Venables (b. 1955), "At Midnight", op. 28 (Two Songs) no. 2 (1997), first performed 1998 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this page: Robert Manno

This text was added to the website: 2005-06-08
Line count: 14
Word count: 116