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Love Cannot Fill…
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath,
Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;
Yet many a man is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.
"Love Cannot Fill" is the twelfth song in Rorem's massive song cycle Evidence of Things Not Seen, which sets 36 poems by a total of 24 authors.
The text of "Love Cannot Fill" is extracted from Sonnet XXX of Millay's 1931 volume Fatal Interview.
Love Cannot Fill…
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath,
Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;
Yet many a man is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.