Explore "Strange Thing that I" by Edna St. Vincent Millay on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Strange thing that I, by nature nothing prone
To fret the summer blossom on its stem, / Who know the hidden nest, but leave alone
The magic eggs, the bird that cuddles them, / Should have no peace till your bewildered heart
Hung fluttering at the window of my breast, / Till I had ravished to my bitter smart
Your kiss from the stern moment, could not rest.
"Swift wing, sweet blossom, live again in air!
Depart, poor flower; poor feathers you are free!"
Thus do I cry, being teased by shame and care
That beauty should be brought to terms by me;
Yet shamed the more that in my heart I know, / Cry as I may, I could not let you go.