To Elinor Wylie: Sonnet in Answer to a Question

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Oh, she was beautiful in every part!
The auburn hair that bound the subtle brain;
The lovely mouth cut clear by wit and pain,
Uttering oaths and nonsense, uttering art
In casual speech and curving at the smart
On startled ears of excellence too plain
For early morning! --- Obit. Death from strain;
The soaring mind outstripped the tethered heart.
Yet here was one who had no need to die
To be remembered. Every word she said,
The lively malice of the hazel eye
Scanning the thumb-nail close --- oh, dazzling dead,
How like a comet through the darkening sky
You raced! . . . would your return were heralded.