by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
Spring
Language: English
To what purpose, April, do you return again? Beauty is not enough. You can no longer quiet me with the redness Of little leaves opening stickily. I know what I know. The sun is hot on my neck as I observe The spikes of the crocus. The smell of the earth is good. It is apparent that there is no death. But what does that signify? Not only under ground are the brains of men Eaten by maggots. Life in itself Is nothing, An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs. It is not enough that yearly, down this hill, April Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.
Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "Spring", appears in Second April, first published 1921 [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 Jake Heggie (b. 1961), "Spring", 1999, first performed 1999 [ soprano and piano ], from Songs and Sonnets to Ophelia, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961), "Spring", op. 123 no. 1 (2013) [ mezzo-soprano, clarinet, and piano quartet ], from Four Seasons, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Kirke Mechem (b. 1925), "Spring", op. 24 no. 5 (1964), published c1968 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from Five Centuries of Spring, no. 5, Bryn Mawr, PA : Th. Presser Co. [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-03
Line count: 18
Word count: 109