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by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)

I too beneath your moon, almighty Sex
Language: English 
I too beneath your moon, almighty Sex,
Go forth at nightfall crying like a cat,
Leaving the lofty tower I labored at
For birds to foul and boys and girls to vex
With tittering chalk; and you, and the long necks
Of neighbors sitting where their mothers sat
Are well aware of shadowy this and that
In me, that's neither noble nor complex.
Such as I am, however, I have brought
To what it is, this tower; it is my own;
Though it was reared To Beauty, it was wrought
From what I had to build with: honest bone
Is there, and anguish; pride; and burning thought;
And lust is there, and nights not spent alone. 

Text Authorship:

  • by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), appears in Huntsman, What Quarry?, first published 1939 [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 Jonathan Dove (b. 1959), "I too beneath your moon, almighty sex", 2015, first performed 2015 [ voice and piano ], from Nights Not Spent Alone, no. 3, confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Jay Poûhe (b. 1935), "I too beneath your moon, almighty Sex", published 1971 [ medium voice and piano ], from The Amorous Line, no. 4 [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: 116

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