If you should ever bump into an ex and need an elegant kiss-off, here it is, courtesy of a great American feminist and lyric poet.
I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed
I, being born a woman and distressed
By all the needs and notions of my kind,
Am urged by your propinquity to find
Your person fair, and feel a certain zest
To bear your body’s weight upon my breast:
So subtly is the fume of life designed,
To clarify the pulse and cloud the mind,
And leave me once again undone, possessed.
Think not for this, however, the poor treason
Of my stout blood against my staggering brain,
I shall remember you with love, or season
My scorn with pity, — let me make it plain:
I find this frenzy insufficient reason
For conversation when we meet again.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vyckie D. Garrison, Pursuit of Harpyness. Pursuit of Harpyness said: Poetry Saturdays: Edna St. Vincent Millay http://bit.ly/9t3W6k [...]
Ha! I love-love-love Edna St Vincent Millay – her poetry, her biography, everything. And the idea of using this as a kiss-off to an ex is totally freaking awesome.
If I had to pick a favourite sonnet from her, I’d go the conventional route and pick “Love Is Not All.” But really, so many of them are so very awesome.
This is awesome, but none of my exes would get it.
[...] I, Being a Woman and Distressed. I’ve never read any of Edna St. Vincent’s work before. This is quite the poem. [...]