Modern Declaration

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



I, having loved ever since I was a child a few things, never having
wavered
In these affections; never through shyness in the houses of the
rich or in the presence of clergymen having denied these
loves;
Never when worked upon by cynics like chiropractors having
grunted or clicked a vertebra to the discredit of those loves;
Never when anxious to land a job having diminished them by a
conniving smile; or when befuddled by drink
Jeered at them through heartache or lazily fondled the fingers of
their alert enemies; declare

That I shall love you always.
No matter what party is in power;
No matter what temporarily expedient combination of allied
interests wins the war;
Shall love you always.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

36 sec read
164

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXBXCACBXXX DXXXD
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 689
Words 122
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 11, 5

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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