by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
From a very little sphinx
Language: English
I Come along in then, little girl! Or else stay out! But in the open door she stands, And bites her lip and twists her hands, And stares upon me, trouble-eyed: "Mother," she says, "I can't decide! I can't decide!" II Oh, burdock, and you other dock, That have ground coffee for your seeds, And lovely long thin daisies, dear -- She said that you were weeds! She said, "Oh, what a fine bouquet!" But afterwards I heard her say, "She's always dragging in those weeds." III Everybody but just me Despises burdocks. Mother, she Despises 'em the most because They stick so to my socks and drawers. But father, when he sits on some, Can't speak a decent word for 'em. IV I know a hundred ways to die. I've often thought that I'd try one: Lie down beneath a motor truck Some day when standing by one. Or throw myself from off a bridge -- Except such things must be So hard upon the scavengers And men that clean the sea. I know some poison I could drink. I've often thought I'd taste it. But mother bought it for the sink, And drinking it would waste it. V Look, Edwin! Do you see that boy Talking to the other boy? No, over there by the two men -- Wait, don't look now -- now look again. No, not the one in navy-blue; That's the one he's talking to. Sure you see him? Stripèd pants? Well, he was born in Paris, France. VI All the grown-up people say, "What, those ugly thistles? Mustn't touch them! Keep away! Prickly! Full of bristles!" Yet they never make me bleed Half so much as roses! Must be purple is a weed, and pink and white is posies. VII Wonder where this horseshoe went. Up and down, up and down, Up and past the monument, Maybe into town. Wait a minute. "Horseshoe, How far have you been?" Says it's been to Salem And halfway to Lynn. Wonder who was in the team. Wonder what they saw. Wonder if they passed a bridge -- Bridge with a draw. Says it went from one bridge Straight upon another. Says it took a little girl Driving with her mother.
Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "From a very little sphinx", from Poems Selected for Young People, first published 1929 [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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-11-23
Line count: 71
Word count: 368