Butterflies are white and blue
In this field we wander through.
Suffer me to take your hand.
Death comes in a day or two.

All the things we ever knew
Will be ashes in that hour,
Mark the transient butterfly,
How he hangs upon the flower.

Suffer me to take your hand.
Suffer me to cherish you
Till the dawn is in the sky.
Whether I be false or true,
Death comes in a day or two.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem Mariposa

2 Comments

  1. sam sears says:
    December 8, 2005 at 5:37 pm

    When I was three and twenty,my girlfriend quoted this poem to me. I married her anyway. It lasted three years. No children. Amicable divorce. She tried to warn me. No complaints.

    Reply
  2. MJ says:
    March 14, 2005 at 11:12 pm

    I liked what Millay said in Mariposa. She presented the dichotomy of life in her symbolic and well styled way.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.