Edna St. Vincent Millay

No matter how negative and depressed we may be, Spring arrives and hopefully brings comfort.

Here’s a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950), American lyrical poet and playwright.

Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She won the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her poem "Ballad of the Harp-Weaver" and was the first woman and second person to win the award.

In 1943, Millay was awarded the Frost Medal for her lifetime contribution to American poetry.

Spring

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

--Edna St. Vincent Millay