We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable—
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
We were very tired, we were very merry—
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, “Good morrow, mother!” to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, “God bless you!” for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
Born in 1892, Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet and playwright. She had a hugely successful career as a poet, winning several poetry prizes from an early age – including becoming the first woman to win the renowned Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1923.
She lived an uninhibited lifestyle in New York and was a well-known socialite in Greenwich Village while she lived there. She became a prominent feminist during her lifetime, using her poetry as a medium for her feminist activism, going into detail on topics that others found taboo for the time. Her 1920 collection, A Few Figs from Thistles, drew widespread controversy for its exploration of female sexuality and feminism.
She continued to write poetry into her later years, where she lived a more subdued life in her house in Steepletop, Maine, after being injured in a road accident aged 44. Her work went on to inspire a generation of American women.
A Few Figs from Thistles
The Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay
A collection of Millay’s most notable poems, including her famous ‘fig’ quatrains. One of the most celebrated poets in American history, Millay is hailed as the twentieth century’s most skilful sonnet writers who expertly married modern attitudes with traditional forms of expression.
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