Nature

I Shall Go Back

by Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892–1950

From Modern American Poetry (1921)

Nature

I shall go back again to the bleak shore
And build a little shanty on the sand
In such a way that the extremest band
Of brittle seaweed will escape my door
But by a yard or two, and nevermore
Shall I return to take you by the hand;
I shall be gone to what I understand
And happier than I ever was before.

The love that stood a moment in your eyes,
The words that lay a moment on your tongue,
Are one with all that in a moment dies,
A little under-said and over-sung;
But I shall find the sullen rocks and skies
Unchanged from what they were when I was young.

MLA

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “I Shall Go Back.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/millay/86/.

Chicago

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “I Shall Go Back.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/millay/86/.

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