StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem - Book Report/Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
The poem is about a hypothetical situation of the death of a beloved person. If such a thing were to happen, then the speaker in the poem prefers learning about it in a public place like a subway train, where a sense of propriety - either natural to the speaker, or forced by the norms of social decorum, would somehow take away, albeit temporarily, the magnanimity of the sudden loss…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.5% of users find it useful
Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem"

Download file to see previous pages

In the speaker's mind this would somehow be better than hearing about his death in a private place, where reality would be more palpable, her reaction more spontaneous, thus making the loss, real and unalterable. Through the poem's imagery, the poet ventures into the deep recesses of human mind and its reactions to shock and grief. The poem succeeds in portraying a psychological need for denial in times of deep distress. This poem is a Shakespearean sonnet, consisting of three quatrains and a couplet.

It uses the characteristic iambic pentameter. The rhyme pattern is of the type abab/cdcd/efef/gg, wherein the first three quatrains follow the cross rhyme pattern, while both the lines of the final couplet end in rhyming words. All through, the poet uses perfect rhymes to add to the sound quality of the sonnet, using rhyming words such as "again-train"(2,4) and "filled-killed" (6,8).Even the alliterative ring of the words, "quite casual" (1) enhances the poem's rhythm. The sonnet is written in first person and is a dramatic monologue. . Thus the reader is allowed to don the role of an eavesdropper, listening in on a private conversation between the speaker and her lover.

The words, "not to return again"(2) also evoke a sense of mystery, leaving the reader wondering whether betrayal is the central theme of this poem. Once again, this notion is corrected in the following lines, "A hurrying man-who happened to be you- At noon to-day had happened to be killed" (7,8).The lines also are important in creating the sombre mood that is evident in the poem. Up until this point, the sense of mystery is sustained and the reader might question as to why the poet has opened the sonnet with a condition "If", or why the speaker is describing a hypothetical situation.

It is as yet unclear as to why the speaker here opened the conversation with, "If I should learn"(1).But from this point onwards, the poet starts wrapping up the plot, providing the answers the reader seeks, and insight to those who care to look beyond the words. The last quatrain and the concluding couplet,when considered within the total context of the poem, help the discerning reader to recognize a complex pattern of human behavior in times of grief or shock. Moreover, the lines, "I should not cry aloud-I could not cry Aloud, or wring my hands in such a place" (9,10) allow a glimpse into the speaker's sense of propriety as well as the expected social behavior, perhaps more in keeping with the poet's times than ours.

This suggests that as far as the speaker is concerned, private emotions have no place in a public place such as a subway train. The speaker is therefore forced to suppress the more spontaneous reaction of crying and "wringing her hands".Such loud

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem Book Report/Review”, n.d.)
Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem Book Report/Review. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1520362-edna-st-vincent-millay-poem
(Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem Book Report/Review)
Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem Book Report/Review. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1520362-edna-st-vincent-millay-poem.
“Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem Book Report/Review”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1520362-edna-st-vincent-millay-poem.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Edna St. Vincent Millay Poem

The Synergy of Form and Theme in Millays Sonnet Love is Not All

hellip; vincent millay (1931) that is the focus of this sonnet.... vincent millay (1931) that is the focus of this sonnet.... vincent millay (1931).... vincent millay's sonnet titled "Love is Not All," a part of a sonnet collection titled "Fatal Interview" (1931).... It is precisely this - the analyses of what love means to edna st.... This is well illustrated in "Love is Not All" by edna st....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Instances of Classical American Poetry and its Initial Impression

hellip; This poem leaves me feeling strange.... I finish this poem feeling somewhat cold-hearted.... This poem is about the shortness of life.... This poem strikes me as almost whimsical, and yet it leaves me feeling more concerned about loss.... The things that are lost begin small and become larger as the poem develops.... I am curious as to the most cheerful tone of the poem and the reality of losses....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Myth in Poetry

In order for the poem to succeed, it must deal with the myth in a manner that is true to the original but also completely relevant to the modern subject matter of the poet.... The conversational tone of this poem, written in free verse continues with the suggestion that "you can't keep weaving all day/ And undoing it all through the night;/ Your arms get tired" (emphasis added).... This attempt at making both Penelope and the narrator of the poem real is essential to its meaning....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

Literary Response #4

vincent millay's poem ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed?... vincent millay's poem ‘What Lips My Lips Have Kissed?... In this instance, the speaker's emotional state is Literary Response #4 edna st.... In the opening lines of the poem Millay states, “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,/ I have forgotten, and what… Here the speaker is looking back on her past romantic encounters and has noted that she has forgotten all of the times she has lain within a lover until morning....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Literary Response #7

vincent millay one notes that the greatest difference between her overall style and that of the previous poets is the feminine perspective she brings to her craft.... In considering edna st.... Consider his seminal poem ‘A Blessing'.... In this poem Wright describes his encounter with two horses, and describes the meeting like he might an interaction with another person whom he cares dearly.... Another poem ‘Richard Cory' continues Robinson's use of iambic pentameter and while it begins in describing an individual with his outwardly happy, it concludes with the fateful words, “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,/ Went home and put a bullet through his head” (Perkins)....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

If i should learn, in some quite casual way response paper

vincent millay's poem, “If I should learn, in some quite casual way,” brought tears to my eyes at the very first reading.... vincent millay's poem, “If I should learn, in some quite casual way,” brought tears to my eyes at the very first reading.... vincent millay's refusal to indulge in self-pity only makes “If I should learn, in some quite casual way,” a statement of great dignity.... I confess that edna st.... edna st....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Discussion of 2 poems

vincent millay talks about love in her poem “Love is Not All”.... On the other hand, edna st.... Dickenson's “Fame is a Bee” is a very short poem but it says a lot of things.... Nevertheless, millay presents it differently.... However, unlike Dickenson, millay uses negation to show her point.... On the seventh line, millay shifts her tone to a more serious one, mentioning death which could not have been expected at all when love is to be mentioned....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Literary Criticism of Edna St Vincent Millay

Throughout this poem it is apparent that St.... Edna is attempting to explicate the fact the The poem appears straight-forward, however, the words seem to have greater meaning than one can comprehend easily.... Edna experiments in this poem by giving it a title, “Love is not all”: This gives the poem its tone.... From a mere point of view, one may think that this poem describes a person suffering from depression of love by asserting that love cannot assist a person in times of difficulty....
3 Pages (750 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us