Inland

Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892 (Rockland) – 1950 (Austerlitz)



People that build their houses inland,
People that buy a plot of ground
Shaped like a house, and build a house there,
Far from the sea-board, far from the sound

Of water sucking the hollow ledges,
Tons of water striking the shore,—
What do they long for, as I long for
One salt smell of the sea once more?

People the waves have not awakened,
Spanking the boats at the harbour's head,
What do they long for, as I long for,—
Starting up in my inland bed,

Beating the narrow walls, and finding
Neither a window nor a door,
Screaming to God for death by drowning,—
One salt taste of the sea once more?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
115

Quick analysis:

Scheme xaxa xbBb xcBc dbdb
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 596
Words 119
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet and playwright. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923, the third woman to win the award for poetry, and was also known for her feminist activism more…

All Edna St. Vincent Millay poems | Edna St. Vincent Millay Books

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