by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
Women have loved before as I love now
Language: English
Women have loved before as I love now; At least, in lively chronicles of the past -- Of Irish waters by a Cornish prow Or Trojan waters by a Spartan mast Much to their cost invaded -- here and there, Hunting the amorous line, skimming the rest, I find some woman bearing as I bear Love like a burning city in the breast. I think however that of all alive I only in such utter, ancient way Do suffer love; in me alone survive The unregenerate passions of a day When treacherous queens, with death upon the tread, Heedless and willful, took their knights to bed.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), no title, appears in Fatal Interview, first published 1931 [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 Margaret Bonds (1913 - 1972), "Women have loved before as I love now" [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs on poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Jake Heggie (b. 1961), "Women have loved before as I love now", 1999, first performed 1999 [ soprano and piano ], from Songs and Sonnets to Ophelia, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jay Poûhe (b. 1935), "Women have loved before as I love now", published 1971 [ medium voice and piano ], from The Amorous Line, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-10-02
Line count: 14
Word count: 104