The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver

“Refugee Blues” by W. H. Auden (1939)

Written by W. H. Auden in 1939, just before the start of World War II, “Refugee Blues” comments on the indifference and antagonism with which Jewish refugees were received as they sought asylum from Nazi Germany. Like "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver," Auden's poem depicts helplessness, isolation, and the yearning for safety from harm.

“Poverty” by Jane Taylor (1804)

Taylor's poem parallels Millay’s “The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver” in its reflections about misery, poverty, and parenthood. The mother portrayed in both poems puts her children's needs above her own and wishes she could provide for them.

“The courage that my mother had” by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1949)

Written shortly before Millay's death in 1950, this poem shares the melancholy and reflective tone of "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver." Both poems focus on a mother whose courage is an inspiring and memorable force, as well as a source of strength, long after the mother's death.

“Finding Music in the Life and Letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay” by Sarah Dacey (2021)

British composer and singer Dacey discusses the formality of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s writing and examines the influence of music on Millay’s poetry.