The Little Ghost - And Other Poems on Grief and Healing

By Edna St. Vincent Millay

“The Little Ghost - And Other Poems on Grief and Healing” is a collection of poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay all connected through the theme of death and dealing with loss. Celebrated for their lyrical beauty, Millay's poems are infused with fiery romance and the youthful spirit that would become a characteristic of her writing. Contents include: “The Little Ghost”, “The Shroud”, “Sonnet III”, “Sonnet V”, “Sonnet V”, “Sonnet VIII”, “Sonnet II”, “Sonnet XI”, “Sonnet XII”, “To S. M. If He Should Lie A-Dying”, “The Blue-Flag in the Bog”, “Elegy Before Death”, “Passer Mortuus Est”, “The Poet and His Book”, “Inland”, “To a Poet that Died Young”, etc. Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) was an American playwright, Pulitzer Prize-winning lyrical poet, and feminist activist. One of the most celebrated poets in American history, Millay is hailed as the twentieth century's most skillfull sonnet writers who expertly married modern attitudes with traditional forms of expression. Other notable works by this author include: “Two Slatterns and a King”, “The Lamp and the Bell”, and “Aria da Capo”. Ragged Hand is publishing this brand new poetry collection for the enjoyment of a new generation of readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ragged Hand - Read & Co.
• Release date: Aug 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781528790758

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in 1892 in Rockland, Maine, the eldest of three daughters, and was encouraged by her mother to develop her talents for music and poetry. Her long poem "Renascence" won critical attention in an anthology contest in 1912 and secured for her a patron who enabled her to go to Vassar College. After graduating in 1917 she lived in Greenwich Village in New York for a few years, acting, writing satirical pieces for journals (usually under a pseudonym), and continuing to work at her poetry. She traveled in Europe throughout 1921-22 as a "foreign correspondent" for Vanity Fair. Her collection A Few Figs from Thistles (1920) gained her a reputation for hedonistic wit and cynicism, but her other collections (including the earlier Renascence and Other Poems [1917]) are without exception more seriously passionate or reflective. In 1923 she married Eugene Boissevain and -- after further travel -- embarked on a series of reading tours which helped to consolidate her nationwide renown. From 1925 onwards she lived at Steepletop, a farmstead in Austerlitz, New York, where her husband protected her from all responsibilities except her creative work. Often involved in feminist or political causes (including the Sacco-Vanzetti case of 1927), she turned to writing anti-fascist propaganda poetry in 1940 and further damaged a reputation already in decline. In her last years of her life she became more withdrawn and isolated, and her health, which had never been robust, became increasingly poor. She died in 1950.

Book preview

1.png

THE

LITTLE GHOST

AND OTHER POEMS

ON GRIEF AND HEALING

By

EDNA

ST. VINCENT MILLAY

Copyright © 2020 Ragged Hand

This edition is published by Ragged Hand

an imprint of Read & Co. 

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library.

Read & Co. is part of Read Books Ltd.

For more information visit

www.readandcobooks.co.uk

Contents

THE LITTLE GHOST

THE SHROUD

SONNET III

SONNET V

SONNET V

SONNET VIII

SONNET IX

SONNET XI

SONNET XII

TO S. M. IF HE SHOULD LIE A-DYING

THE BLUE-FLAG IN THE BOG

ELEGY BEFORE DEATH

PASSER MORTUUS EST

THE POET AND HIS BOOK

INLAND

TO A POET THAT DIED YOUNG

BURIAL

MARIPOSA

LAMENT

MEMORIAL TO D. C. VASSAR COLLEGE, 1918

EPITAPH

PRAYER TO PERSEPHONE

CHORUS

ELEGY

DIRGE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE

LITTLE GHOST

AND OTHER POEMS

ON GRIEF AND HEALING

THE LITTLE GHOST

I knew her for a little ghost

That in my garden walked;

The wall is high—higher than most—

And