Lyric Poem · Life
First Fig
by Edna St. Vincent Millay · 1920
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!
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“First Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay — quilloak.com/poems/first-fig
Quick facts
- Poem
- First Fig
- Poet
- Edna St. Vincent Millay
- Published
- 1920
- Length
- 4 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem, Short Poems
- Themes
- Life, Funny, Short
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 4 lines · one 4-line stanza
- End rhyme
- ABAB — alternate rhyme.
- Line length
- Consistent with short metre. Two short lines, one longer, one short (6.6.8.6) — the short hymn stanza.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Edna St. Vincent Millay1892–1950
- Source record
- WikisourceFirst Fig by edna-st-vincent-millay, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1920
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 8e5782307854d264…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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