A Poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay: Grown-up Was it for this I uttered prayers, And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs, That now, domestic as a plate, I should retire at half-past eight?
Edna St. Vincent MillayRead
I went to Boston fully expecting to be arrested - arrested by a polizia created by a government that my ancestors rebelled to establish.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the courage to confront potential consequences for standing against oppression.
In this quote, Edna St. Vincent Millay articulates her awareness of the risks she faces in Boston, a place historically linked to her ancestors' fight for freedom. The mention of expecting arrest symbolizes a willingness to challenge authority and the government's oppressive actions, highlighting a deep-rooted sense of justice and the importance of standing up for oneβs beliefs, even in the face of potential punishment.
In practice
During a speech about activism and the fight for civil rights.
A Poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay: Grown-up Was it for this I uttered prayers, And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs, That now, domestic as a plate, I should retire at half-past eight?
Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age. The child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.
Listen, children: Your father is dead. From his old coats I'll make you little jackets; I'll make you little trousers From his old pants. There'll be in his pockets Things he used to put there, Keys and pennies Covered with tobacco; Dan shall have the pennies To save in his bank; Anne shall have the keys To make a pretty noise with. Life must go on, Though good men die; Anne, eat your breakfast; Dan, take your medicine; Life must go on; I forget just why.
I would I were alive again To kiss the fingers of the rain, To drink into my eyes the shine Of every slanting silver line, To catch the freshened, fragrant breeze From drenched and dripping apple-trees. For soon the shower will be done, And then the broad face of the sun Will laugh above the rain-soaked earth Until the world with answering mirth Shakes joyously, and each round drop Rolls twinkling, from its grass-blade top.
I drank at every vine, the last was like the first. I came upon no wine so wonderful as thirst.
She learned her hands in a fairy-tale, And her mouth on a valentine.
Nothing has been more detrimental to me than to be considered a symbol, because I never stood for any of that... The civil rights movement thought they would do me harm over the years by disassociating themselves from me. Well, nothing in the world was more to my advantage. I was never one of them... I had my own divine mission.
To me non-violence has come to represent a panacea for all the evils that surround my people, and, therefore, I am devoting all my energies towards the establishment of a society that should be based on its principles of truth and peace.
This is our special duty, that if anyone specially needs our help, we should give him such help to the utmost of our power.
Those revolutionaries who have, by chance, escaped the gallows should live and show to the world that they cannot only embrace gallows for the ideal but also bear the worst type of tortures in the dark, dingy prison cells.
I have immense respect for anyone with a physical deformity and the courage and confidence it takes just to go out in the world.
For sure, there are times when one may have no choice but to go to war, but it is never something to rush to or accept without exploring every other available option.
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