Welcome. Today we are exploring one of the most widely read American sonnets of the twentieth century: "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why," written by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
First published in Vanity Fair in November 1920 and later included in her 1923 collection, The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems—which earned her the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry—this sonnet captures the spirit of a changing era. During the 1920s, Millay was a prominent figure in New York's Greenwich Village bohemian community. At a time when women writers were often expected to adhere to conventional depictions of romantic devotion, Millay articulated a modern perspective on female autonomy, casual romance, and the impermanence of passion.
The Poem
Here is the poem in full:
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.
Analysis & Structure
When examining how this poem is built, the first thing to notice is its form. Millay adopts the traditional Petrarchan, or Italian, sonnet structure. Historically, Italian sonnets were used by poets to idealize a single, distant lover—most famously in Petrarch's poems to Laura. Millay intentionally subverts this tradition. Instead of offering eternal devotion to one individual, her speaker calmly admits that she cannot even remember the names, faces, or details of her past romantic partners.
The poem strictly maintains iambic pentameter and follows the Petrarchan rhyme scheme: an octave rhyming ABBAABBA, followed by a sestet.
In the opening octave, Millay sets a contemplative night scene. Rain taps against the window, which the speaker personifies as "ghosts" that "tap and sigh / Upon the glass and listen for reply." These ghosts embody the memories of her past lovers—the "unremembered lads." Notably, the speaker does not express intense grief; instead, she feels a "quiet pain." The sorrow comes not from longing for a specific person, but from realizing that a season of her life marked by romantic passion has drawn to a close.
Line nine introduces the "volta," or the structural turn typical of Italian sonnets. Millay shifts from personal interior reflection to an extended metaphor drawn from the natural world: "Thus in winter stands the lonely tree."
In the final six lines, the speaker compares her mind to a barren tree in winter. Just as the tree cannot track every individual bird that once rested in its branches, the speaker cannot recount every lover from her past. Yet, the tree remains aware of the absence left behind—it "knows its boughs more silent than before."
This imagery culminates in the closing lines: "I cannot say what loves have come and gone, / I only know that summer sang in me / A little while, that in me sings no more." Here, "summer" serves as a metaphor for youth, vitality, and emotional openness. Ultimately, the poem's grief is directed not at the forgotten lovers themselves, but at the passage of time and the loss of the speaker's own youthful capacity for romance.
By pairing strict classical form with an unreservedly modern reflection on age and memory, Edna St. Vincent Millay created a work that continues to speak clearly across generations, observing how time quietly transforms the human heart.
Backgrounder Notes
Here are key facts and literary concepts from the article, along with brief backgrounders to provide deeper context for readers:
1. Petrarchan (Italian) Sonnet
A traditional 14-line poetic form divided into an eight-line octave (rhyming ABBAABBA) and a six-line sestet. Originally popularized by 14th-century Italian poets, it classically explores themes of courtly love, intense longing, and idealization of a romantic partner.
2. The Volta (Poetic Turn)
The volta is the dramatic shift in thought, tone, or argument within a sonnet, traditionally occurring between lines 8 and 9 at the transition from the octave to the sestet. It signals a move from presenting a problem or situation to reflecting upon, contrasting, or resolving it.
3. Greenwich Village Bohemian Community (1920s)
In the early 20th century, New York City's Greenwich Village served as the epicenter of the American avant-garde and counterculture movement. It attracted radical writers, artists, and feminists who challenged conservative Victorian morality by championing free expression, political activism, and non-traditional lifestyles.
4. Iambic Pentameter
A standard metrical pattern in English poetry consisting of five metrical "feet" per line, where each foot contains one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (da-DUM). This ten-syllable rhythm closely mimics the natural cadence of spoken English and is famously used in Shakespearean plays and traditional sonnets.
5. Petrarch and Laura
Francesco Petrarch was a 14th-century Italian scholar whose foundational collection of love poems, the Canzoniere, was dedicated to "Laura," an idealized woman whom he worshiped from a distance. Petrarch’s obsessive, devotion-focused style set the standard for European love poetry for centuries.
6. Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (Millay's 1923 Win)
First awarded in 1922, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry recognizes outstanding volumes of verse by American authors. Edna St. Vincent Millay became the third recipient—and one of the earliest women—to win the prestigious honor, which solidified her reputation as a major voice in American literature.
