"What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why," by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Author: by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
When you think of rain it’s like sad and gloomy, and ghosts could also be like souls. Souls don’t only have to associated with the occult and paranormal, they can also be referred to as one’s being. So maybe the ghosts in the rain could just be mournful people. These people could be the people she has kissed before, maybe her past lovers.
Maybe she has a pain in her heart that she can’t share with anyone and it has to be kept secret. Not a literal pain but like a heartbreak, like how you feel when you breakup with someone. heart could also be used to symbolize someone’s soul, maybe the ghosts she talks about in line 4 could be a representation of herself being sad.
I think that shes just reminiscing because she feels lonely. throughout the poem she figuratively mentions about how she feels lonely. But i think its too late to be “loud” about it so instead she writes a poem Taylor swift style and hopefully moves on.
If im not mistaken, by that she means she doesnt remember the guys she was with rather she remembers what she had with them so if she doesnt remember the dudes then why even think about it in the first place ya know?
Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree
, Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.
Source: Vanity Fair (November, 1920)
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