Collected Lyrics of Edna St. Vincent Millay

I feel that anyone who gives this collection less than 5 stars hasn't given it a chance. This is the only book of poetry out of the many that I own that I have read cover-to-cover several times. My copy is dog-eared, sun-tanned, spilled-on, underlined... showing all of the signs of a book extremely well-loved. Why? Because Millay says things like the phrase I used for the title of this review, as well as: "Above these cares my spirit in calm abidingFloats like a swimmer at sunrise, facing the pale sky." -- from ABOVE THESE CARES"My heart is warm with the friends I make,And better friends I'll not be knowing;Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,No matter where it's going." -- from TRAVEL"Ashes am I of all that once I seemed.In me all's sunk that leapt, and all that dreamed." -- from THE SUICIDE"Oh little leaves that are so dumbAgainst the shrieking city air,I watch you when the wind has come,--I know what sound is there." -- from CITY TREESThose are just the first few that sprung out at me from the several phrases I marked in my own copy - there are so many more that I wish I had the room to share here, but since I do not, I will close with this fitting lyric from THE POET and HIS BOOK:"Stranger, pause and look;From the dust of agesLift this little book,Turn the tattered pages,Read me, do not let me die!Search the fading letters, findingSteadfast in the broken bindingAll that once was I!"I sincerely hope you "pause and look" at Millay's COLLECTED LYRICS - it is like a script of wonderful lines describing life.

Stay with this for my review on the Collected LyricsThe suject of one of our summer book group meetings is the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. It was my good fortune to take home "Fatal Interview, Sonnets" from among the books offered. Never having read Ms. Millay's poetry, I was unfamiliar with even "Renascence," the first stanza of which is so well known. Having some difficulty relating to the sonnets, I persevered because she was a Nobel prize recipient. At length, the connection was made and resulted in a poem of my own, "Bravo, Ms Millay." Her search for love and especially for Source reminded me of "The Hound of Heaven."Enter rescue in the form of Edna St. Vincent Millay Colleted Lyrics. I found the poetry enchanting. Oddly, none of the sonnets from "Fatal Interview" were included. From the very beginning, her poetry is indeed a search for God. She is very good at rhyme and meter and excells at unusual points of view that in themselves make evident what she is sharing with her readers. Bravo, Ms. MillayOh wondrous weaver of words given wings, A dove soaring in the sky.Mine, too, a heart that sings Heaving a gentle sigh.'Tis true we are our own beingWe can only sing our song. As true to show our seeing All for which we long.Your gracious exposition of love This ordinary mortal gleans Comes to earth from above Astride sun and moonbeams.Searching for your very source Skyward soaring Never boring force.

I own an earlier edition of this book (published by Harper & Row) and it is through this single volume that Ms. Millay has become one of my favorite poets. Her masterful use of meter and rhyme produce sentences and line breaks that are profoundly satisfying. By way of example I offer the opening stanza from the beautiful poem of spiritual awakening, "Renascence":"All I could see from where I stoodWas three long mountains and a wood;I turned and looked another way,And saw three islands in a bay.So with my eyes I traced the lineOf the horizon, thin and fine,Straight around till I was comeBack to where I'd started from;And all I saw from where I stoodWas three long mountains and a wood."The pieces included in this collection are taken from seven different sources, originally published between 1917 and the 1940's respectively. The themes of love, sorrow, nature and the human condition in general - coupled with Ms. Millay's intelligence, insight and sharp wit - make all of the pieces in this book timeless and perfect poetry.