Death & Dying

Wine from These Grapes

by Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892–1950

From The Buck in the Snow and Other Poems (1928)

Death & Dying

Wine from these grapes I shall be treading surely
Morning and noon and night until I die.
Stained with these grapes I shall lie down to die.

If you would speak with me on any matter,
At any time, come where these grapes are grown;
And you will find me treading them to must.
Lean then above me sagely, lest I spatter
Drops of the wine I tread from grapes and dust.

Stained with these grapes I shall lie down to die.
Three women come to wash me clean
Shall not erase this stain.
Nor leave me lying purely,
Awaiting the black lover.
Death, fumbling to uncover
My body in his bed,
Shall know
There has been one
Before him.

MLA

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “Wine from These Grapes.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/millay/172/.

Chicago

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “Wine from These Grapes.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/millay/172/.

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