by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
It's little I care what path I take
Language: English
It's little I care what path I take, And where it leads it's little I care, But out of this house, lest my heart break, I must go, and off somewhere! It's little I know what's in my heart, What's in my mind it's little I know, But there's that in me must up and start, And it's little I care where my feet go! I wish I could walk for a day and a night, And find me at dawn in a desolate place, With never the rut of a road in sight, Or the roof of a house, or the eyes of a face. I wish I could walk till my blood should spout, And drop me, never to stir again, On a shore that is wide, for the tide is out, And the weedy rocks are bare to the rain. But dump or dock, where the path I take Brings up, it's little enough I care, And it's little I'd mind the fuss they'll make, Huddled dead in a ditch somewhere. "Is something the matter, dear," she said, "That you sit at your work so silently?" "No, mother, no — 'twas a knot in my thread. There goes the kettle — I'll make the tea."
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "Departure", appears in The Harp-Weaver and other poems, first published 1923 [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 Joel Balzun (b. 1990), "What path I take", 2011 [ vocal duet for tenor and baritone with piano ], from The strong, the strange, and the humble, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Kelly (b. 1916), "Departure", 1964 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-02-10
Line count: 24
Word count: 208