cigarette



Millay's "Cigarette" is possibly a metaphor for a memory, or a previous affair; it also specifies "this" particular cigarette. If it was "the cigarette" there would be no emphasis or regards to a particular one. Considering how the first line introduces the rest of the poem, it suggests that the affair was short. Like a cigarette, it did not last long. What was there was a brief moment of satisfaction, nothing worthwhile. "A little moment at the end of all" refers to a specific moment of that affair.