I looked in my heart while the wild swans went over. And what did I see I had not seen before? Only a question less or a question more: Nothing to match the flight of wild birds flying. Tiresome heart, forever living and dying, House without air, I leave you and lock your door. Wild swans, come over the town, come over The town again, trailing your legs and crying!
Five Lyrics by Edna St. Vincent Millay , opus 51
by John Mitchell (b. 1941)
2. The wild swans
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), appears in Second April, first published 1921
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3. Travel
The railroad track is miles away, And the day is loud with voices speaking, Yet there isn't a train goes by all day But I hear its whistle shrieking. All night there isn't a train goes by, Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming But I see its cinders red on the sky, And hear its engine steaming. My heart is warm with the friends I make, And better friends I'll not be knowing, Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take, No matter where it's going.
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), appears in Second April, first published 1921
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4. The Dream
Love, if I weep it will not matter, And if you laugh I shall not care; Foolish am I to think about it, But it is good to feel you there. Love, in my sleep I dreamed of waking, -- White and [awful]1 the moonlight reached Over the floor, and somewhere, somewhere, There was a shutter loose, -- it screeched! Swung in the wind, -- and no wind blowing! -- I was afraid, and turned to you, Put out my hand to you for comfort, -- And you were gone! Cold, cold as dew, Under my hand the moonlight lay! Love, if you laugh I shall not care, But if I weep it will not matter, -- Ah, it is good to feel you there! Ah, it is good to feel you there!
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), "The Dream", appears in Renascence and Other Poems, first published 1917
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5. The return from town
As I sat down by Saddle Stream To bathe my dusty feet there, A boy was standing on the bridge Any girl would meet there. As I went over Woody Knob And dipped into the Hollow, A youth was coming up the hill Any maid would follow. Then in I turned at my own gate, - And nothing to be sad for - To such a man as any wife Would pass a pretty lad for.
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), appears in The Harp-Weaver and other poems
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