A Few Figs from Thistles

Name: A Few Figs from Thistles
Author: Edna St. Vincent Millay

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Pages: about 9
Category: Literature & Fiction
Language: English
Reading time: 10 min at 250 wpm

Start readingThe whole book, as cards or one word at a time. 5 min at 450 wpm in Read mode.

From the opening

My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends-- It gives a lovely light!
Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand: Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand!
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.
And if I loved you Wednesday, Well, what is that to you? I do not love you Thursday-- So much is true.
And why you come complaining Is more than I can see. I loved you Wednesday,--yes--but what Is that to me?
How shall I know, unless I go To Cairo and Cathay, Whether or not this blessed spot Is blest in every way?
Now it may be, the flower for me Is this beneath my nose; How shall I tell, unless I smell The Carthaginian rose?

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A Few Figs from Thistles

From the opening

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