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Comparing Sonnet XLIII And D. H. Lawrence's Piano

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In the poems, “Sonnet XLIII” by Edna St. Vincent Millary and “Piano” by D.h. Lawrence, they are different in the subject matter, rhyme, and imagery. Although they are similar when it comes to tone and theme. In the poem, “Piano” Lawrence evokes a pleasant time when he was a child, yet he is sad because he misses his mother (55). The poem, “Sonnet XLIII” Millay is mourning her present life because of her poor choices in her past. When Millay was younger, she would have many guys come in her life and go out the door. This left her in alone toward the end of her life (130). In “Piano” Lawrence his subject matter is when he was a child, his mother would play the piano and he would he by her feet. As Lawrence state “A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the …show more content…

This moment in his life is the happiest but it also brings him great sorrow. As Lawrence state “In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song/ Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong” (55). He regrets not spending more time with his mother. In “Sonnet XLIII” Millay happiest moment was when she is younger, and when she had a lot of attention from the guys. She states, “I only know that summer sang in me/ a little while, that in me sings no more” (130). She is regretting her decisions in her older years; as she sates “Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree” (130). In both poems, they have a similarity in theme about regretting their decision they made. In “Piano” Lawrence regrets not spending more time with his mother. He uses a child in his poem as his imagery of his childhood (55). In “Sonnet XLIII” Millay regrets not having a partner in her older years. This leaves her alone; she uses the tree in winter as imagery of herself. Both poems evoke the pleasures of the past, but they want to change something about their past. This leaves them with regret in their present

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