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When the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay died on October 19, 1950, the New York Times noted that she was best known for crafting a “frivolous” little poem about a candle. Perhaps because "First Fig" was just a single Seussian stanza, it was easy to dismiss. But it was also easy to remember. More importantly, it spoke to something deep inside those who discovered it, something essential and true.

You may not know the poem’s name, but you probably know its lines.

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.

Earlier this week, Pomfret held its annual Candlelight vigil in Clark Memorial Chapel. Candlelight is a heartwarming evening filled with love and hope that gathers together the Pomfret community in the everlasting spirit of music and poetry.

At one point in the evening, Kelly Park ’26 read Stuart Kestenbaum’s poem “Holding the Light.” The poem exalts listeners to embrace the light they carry inside themselves even in the darkest of times.

Gather up whatever is 
glittering in the gutter,
whatever has tumbled 
in the waves or fallen 
in flames out of the sky,

for it’s not only our
hearts that are broken, 
but the heart
of the world as well.
Stitch it back together.
 
Make a place where
the day speaks to the night
and the earth speaks to the sky.
Whether we created God
or God created us

it all comes down to this:
In our imperfect world
we are meant to repair
and stitch together 
what beauty there is, stitch it 

with compassion and wire. 
See how everything 
we have made gathers 
the light inside itself
and overflows? A blessing.

As the service approached its conclusion, the overhead lights came off plunging the little stone church into darkness. Director of Spiritual Life Bobby Fisher lit the first candle and passed the flame to Head of School Tim Richards and a student reader who shared their light with others nearby. Those people shared their flames, and so on, until every candle was lit.

With the scene now set, students and faculty rejoiced in the singing of “Silent Night” and then “Let There Be Peace on Earth” while the hard rock glowed and danced warm and soft around them. The evening concluded with Fisher’s familiar benediction, written more than a century ago by the Swiss moral philosopher Henri-Frédéric Amiel. 

Dear friends, 
We know that life is short
And we do not have much time 
to gladden the hearts of those who 
travel with us. 
So be swift to love, 
make haste to be kind.

With that, students and faculty slowly rose from their pews and carried their burning candles out into the dark Pomfret night.
 

See more photos from the event

 

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