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by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)

To One Who Might Have Borne a Message
Language: English 
Had I known that you were going
I would have given you messages for her,
Now two years dead,
Whom I shall always love.

As it is, should she entreat you how it goes with me,
You must reply: as well as with most, you fancy;
That I love easily, and pass the time.

And she will not know how all day long between
My life and me her shadow intervenes,
A young thin girl,
Wearing a white skirt and a purple sweater
And a narrow pale blue ribbon about her hair.

I used to say to her, “I love you
Because your face is such a pretty colour,
No other reason.”
But it was not true.

Oh, had I only known that you were going,
I could have given you messages for her!

Text Authorship:

  • by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "To One Who Might Have Borne a Message" [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 Richard Pearson Thomas (b. 1957), "To One Who Might Have Borne a Message" [ soprano, piano ], from Songs To Poems Of Edna St. Vincent Millay, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2023-09-10
Line count: 18
Word count: 134

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