I have instructed you to follow me
What way I go;
The road is hard, and stony—as I know;
Uphill it climbs, and from the crushing heat
No shelter will be found
Save in my shadow: wherefore follow me; the footprints of my feet
Will be distinct and clear;
However trodden on, they will not disappear.
And see ye not at last
How tall I am?—Even at noon I cast
A shadow like a forest far behind me on the ground.
Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. In 1923, she was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her poem Ballad of the Harp-Weaver, and in 1943 was the second woman to be awarded the Frost Medal for her lifetime contribution to American poetry. Her work was highly regarded during much of her lifetime, and English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy said that America had two great attractions: the skyscraper and the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay.