“13 twists upon the noose/there’s a hanging man who’s crying to be free/but I will not cut him loose

For Poetry Monday, what else but More Millay?


“Thou famished grave, I will not fill thee yet,” Edna St. V. Millay

Thou famished grave, I will not fill thee yet,
Roar though thou dost, I am too happy here;
Gnaw thine own sides, fast on; I have no fear
Of thy dark project, but my heart is set
On living—I have heroes to beget
Before I die; I will not come anear
Thy dismal jaws for many a splendid year;
Till I be old, I aim not to be eat.
I cannot starve thee out: I am thy prey
And thou shalt have me; but I dare defend
That I can stave thee off; and I dare say,
What with the life I lead, the force I spend,
I’ll be but bones and jewels on that day,
And leave thee hungry even in the end.


One for the times. The “eat” in line 8 is, btw, the past tense, pronounced /et/ by the rhymes.

---L.

Subject quote from Draw the Curtain, Cats Laughing (I assume Adam Stemple as lyricist).