The Little Ghost

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



I knew her for a little ghost
   That in my garden walked;
The wall is high—higher than most—
   And the green gate was locked.

And yet I did not think of that
   Till after she was gone—
I knew her by the broad white hat,
   All ruffled, she had on.

By the dear ruffles round her feet,
   By her small hands that hung
In their lace mitts, austere and sweet,
   Her gown's white folds among.

I watched to see if she would stay,
   What she would do—and oh!
She looked as if she liked the way
   I let my garden grow!

She bent above my favourite mint
   With conscious garden grace,
She smiled and smiled—there was no hint
   Of sadness in her face.

She held her gown on either side
   To let her slippers show,
And up the walk she went with pride,
   The way great ladies go.

And where the wall is built in new
   And is of ivy bare
She paused—then opened and passed through
   A gate that once was there.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

52 sec read
74

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAX BXBX CDCD EFEF GHGH IFIF JKJK
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 898
Words 175
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 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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