"The Little Ghost" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend October 14, 2017   The Little Ghost   Edna St. Vincent Millay

I knew her for a little ghost      That in my garden walked; The wall is high—higher than most—      And the green gate was locked.   And yet I did not think of that      Till after she was gone— I knew her by the broad white hat,      All ruffled, she had on.   By the dear ruffles round her feet,      By her small hands that hung In their lace mitts, austere and sweet,      Her gown's white folds among.   I watched to see if she would stay,      What she would do—and oh! She looked as if she liked the way      I let my garden grow!   She bent above my favourite mint      With conscious garden grace, She smiled and smiled—there was no hint      Of sadness in her face.   She held her gown on either side      To let her slippers show, And up the walk she went with pride,      The way great ladies go.   And where the wall is built in new      And is of ivy bare She paused—then opened and passed through      A gate that once was there.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "The Little Ghost" was first published in Renascence and Other Poems (Mitchell Kennerley, 1917).   Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Rockland, Maine, in 1892. She is the author of Renascence and Other Poems (Mitchell Kennerley, 1917), Second April (Harper & Brothers, 1921), and The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver (Frank Shay, 1922), among other books. She died in 1950. Poetry by Millay   Collected Poems (Harper Perennial, 2011) "Restless Ghost" by Eric Pankey "Hymn to the Night" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow "A Ghost" by Cole Swenson Help Support Poem-a-Day   If you value Poem-a-Day, please consider a monthly donation or one-time gift to help make it possible. Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning. The free series, which also features a curated selection of classic poems on weekends, reaches 450,000+ readers daily. Thank you! Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038