If I should learn, in some quite casual way,
   That you were gone, not to return again—
Read from the back-page of a paper, say,
   Held by a neighbor in a subway train,
How at the corner of this avenue
   And such a street (so are the papers filled)
A hurrying man—who happened to be you—
   At noon to-day had happened to be killed,
I should not cry aloud—I could not cry
   Aloud, or wring my hands in such a place—
I should but watch the station lights rush by
   With a more careful interest on my face,
Or raise my eyes and read with greater care
   Where to store furs and how to treat the hair.

Added: Feb 21 2003 | Viewed: 2804 times | Comments (0)

Poet: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Poem: 5. Sonnet 05: If I Should Learn, In Some Quite Casual Way
Volume: Renascence and Other Poems
- Sonnets
Year: Published/Written in 1917
There are no comments for this poem. Why not be the first one to post something about it?

Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Sonnet 05: If I Should Learn, In Some Quite Casual Way, has not yet been commented on. You can click here to be the first to post a comment about it. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay with others on the American Poems poetry forum!