The oft-quoted lines of this particular poem first appeared in the 1920 poetry collection A Few Figs from Thistles. So much is said in these lines – that to truly live is to burn and dazzle each day with one’s free will and wish.
The poet doesn’t need to write an autobiography to get the message across. Instead, as if addressing all the people known to her, probably from an imaginary stage, she accumulates her entire life in four lines of verse.
First Fig
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light.
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(Article by Snehith Kumbla)