Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PASTORAL by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

Poet Analysis

First Line: IF IT WERE ONLY STILL!
Last Line: ON ITS LITTLE SEED!
IF it were only still! --
With far away the shrill
Crying of a cock;
Or the shaken bell
From a cow's throat
Moving through the bushes;
Or the soft shock
Of wizened apples falling
From an old tree
In a forgotten orchard
Upon the hilly rock!

Oh, grey hill,
Where the grazing herd
Licks the purple blossom,
Crops the spiky weed!
Oh, stony pasture,
Where the tall mullein
Stands up so sturdy
On its little seed!




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