Analysis of What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why (Sonnet XLIII)
Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892 (Rockland) – 1950 (Austerlitz)
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.
Scheme | ABBAABCADEFGDF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110101 1101001111 1011110101 1111011101 0101010101 0011110101 1111101 111111101 101010101 1111110111 1111110101 1101111101 1101110101 0101101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 594 |
Words | 118 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 14 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 457 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 116 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 17, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 211 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why (Sonnet XLIII)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9496/what-lips-my-lips-have-kissed%2C-and-where%2C-and-why-%28sonnet-xliii%29>.
Discuss this Edna St. Vincent Millay poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In