What Lips my Lips have Kissed
The poem reflects on themes of love, loss, and memory through the lens of a speaker who grapples with the passage of time and the fleeting nature of romantic relationships. The speaker recalls past lovers and intimate moments but acknowledges a sense of forgetfulness regarding specific details of these encounters. The imagery of rain and ghosts evokes a melancholic atmosphere, suggesting a haunting presence of lost love. The speaker expresses a deep, quiet pain for the unremembered lovers who will not return, paralleling the loneliness of a tree in winter that is aware of its silence but cannot recall the birds that once filled its branches. This metaphor emphasizes the emptiness left by departed relationships and the inevitable changes that come with time. Ultimately, the speaker recognizes that while there were moments of joy and passion—symbolized by the summer that once sang within them—those feelings have faded, leaving behind a sense of longing and nostalgia. The poem captures the bittersweet essence of love's impermanence and the emotional weight of memories that linger even when the specifics are lost.
By Edna St. Vincent Millay · First published 1923 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Romanticism, Modernism · 147 words
First lines
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why, I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply, And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
What this Textopian page supports
What Lips my Lips have Kissed is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, dated 1923 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Date: 1923 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Romanticism, Modernism, Elegy, Nature Poetry
- Length: 147 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)
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Similar titles
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- Cherish You Then The Hope I Shall Forget by Edna St Vincent Millay
- She Had Forgotten by Edna St Vincent Millay
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The poem expresses personal emotions and reflections, characteristic of lyric poetry.
- Romanticism — Themes of love, loss, and nostalgia align with Romantic ideals.
- Modernism — The poem's introspective nature and exploration of memory reflect modernist themes.
- Elegy — The poem mourns lost loves and reflects on past relationships, fitting the elegiac form.
Tags
Poetry · Romance · Love · Heartbreak · Loss · Memory · Nostalgia · Longing · Yearning · Sorrow · Pain · Regret
More by Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Renascence and Other Poems (1912)
- Second April: SPRING (1921)
- Second April: CITY TREES (1921)
- Second April: THE BLUE-FLAG IN THE BOG (1921)
- Second April: JOURNEY (1921)
- Second April: EEL-GRASS (1921)
- Second April: ELEGY BEFORE DEATH (1921)
- Second April: THE BEAN-STALK (1921)
- All works by Edna St. Vincent Millay