Lilacs and Lozenges

Edouard Manet, Lilacs in a Vase, 1882, Nationalgalerie, Berlin

Edna St. Vincent Millay, Renascence and Other Poems, 1917

Thou art not lovelier than lilacs,—no

Sonnet I

THOU art not lovelier than lilacs,—no,
Nor honeysuckle; thou art not more fair
Than small white single poppies,—I can bear
Thy beauty; though I bend before thee, though
From left to right, not knowing where to go,
I turn my troubled eyes, nor here nor there
Find any refuge from thee, yet I swear
So has it been with mist,—with moonlight so.

Like him who day by day unto his draught
Of delicate poison adds him one drop more
Till he may drink unharmed the death of ten,
Even so, inured to beauty, who have quaffed
Each hour more deeply than the hour before,
I drink—and live—what has destroyed some men.

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Thanks for all your kind words while I've been a little under

the weather. I'm still not feeling too great, so I'm going to

take Steviewren's advice and listen to some Fiddler on the

Roof. That should do the trick.