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1: “I Am Not Resigned to the Shutting Away of Loving Hearts in the Hard Ground”
Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950).
In the aftermath of tragedy, our hearts shake with anger as we fiercely resist this cruel fate. We find ourselves refusing to accept the harsh reality of what has befallen us and our loved ones. In the end, while we may be forced to acknowledge the truth of the matter, for a time we may only acknowledge it with bitterness.
The emotions and reactions embodied herein are: reckless, bitter, somber, mournful, fierce, woeful, hesitant, angry, wistful, resentful, pain, and regret.
Lyrics:
I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.
Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains,—but the best is lost.
The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,—
They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.
Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.
- Genre
- Classical