English Poetry. Edna St. Vincent Millay. The Penitent. Эдна Сент-Винсент Миллей.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (Эдна Сент-Винсент Миллей)

The Penitent

I had a little Sorrow,
Born of a little Sin,
I found a room all damp with gloom
And shut us all within;
And, ”Little Sorrow, weep,” said I,
”And, Little Sin, pray God to die,
And I upon the floor will lie
And think how bad I’ve been!”

Alas for pious planning - -
It mattered not a whit!
As far as gloom went in that room,
The lamp might have been lit!
My little Sorrow would not weep,
My little Sin would go to sleep --
To save my soul I could not keep
My graceless mind on it!

So I got up in anger,
And took a book I had,
And put a ribbon on my my hair
To please a passing lad,
And, ”One thing there’s no getting by --
I’ve been a wicked girl,” said I:
”But if I can’t be sorry, why,
I might as well be glad!”

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s other poems:

1. Two Sonnets in Memory
2. When the Year Grows Old
3. Underground System
4. Inland
5. Exiled

Poems of other poets with the same name (Стихотворения других поэтов с таким же названием):

Anne Brontë (Энн Бронте) The Penitent (“I mourn with thee and yet rejoice”)

976

To the dedicated English version of this website

---