I shall forget you presently, my dear (Sonnet IV) by Edna St. Vincent Millay

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend September 26, 2015   I shall forget you presently, my dear (Sonnet IV)   Edna St. Vincent Millay

I shall forget you presently, my dear, So make the most of this, your little day, Your little month, your little half a year Ere I forget, or die, or move away, And we are done forever; by and by I shall forget you, as I said, but now, If you entreat me with your loveliest lie I will protest you with my favorite vow. I would indeed that love were longer-lived, And vows were not so brittle as they are, But so it is, and nature has contrived To struggle on without a break thus far,— Whether or not we find what we are seeking Is idle, biologically speaking.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “I shall forget you presently, my dear (Sonnet IV)” was published in A Few Figs from Thistles: Poems and Sonnets (Frank Shay, 1920).   Poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Rockland, Maine, on February 22, 1892. Her collections of verse include The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver (1922), for which she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and Make Bright the Arrows (1940). She died on October 19, 1950.   Photo Credit: Carl Van Vechten Poetry by Millay   Millay Poems (Everyman's Library, 2010) "When You Are Old" by W. B. Yeats "A Love Song" by William Carlos Williams "One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038