Love Is Not All By Edna St. Vincent Millay

When love is typically described, it is thought of as a joy, almost pure. Most people want to be in love. Millay, on the other hand, seems to represent passionate love as almost burdensome. When referring to the act of love itself, she describes the women she identifies with “bearing as I bear/love like a burning city in the breast” (lines 7-8). She also states “[I] Do suffer love” (line 11). The words here are all negative, in contrast to what the reader would expect. Yet, the narrator also seems to look upon this way of loving with longing. She seeks the stories of the past, “Hunt[ing] the amorous line” (line 6). This way of love is how she wants to feel, and

“Beauty is whatever gives joy”(Millay). Edna St. Vincent Millay followed this motto throughout her life, creating beautiful poems for the sake of joy. “Love is Not All (Sonnet XXX)” is a prime example of such beauty. From her childhood, to where she grew up, to what literary era she lived in, Millay’s writing portrays who and what she is: an alcoholic, bisexual, inspiration of her time. Edna St. Vincent Millay, born with a rebellious attitude to a supportive mother, wrote in her modernistic views, “Love is Not All (Sonnet XXX)” with the idea that love is not as important when facing hunger and pain..

Love is not always an easy adventure to take part in. As a result, thousands of poems and sonnets have been written about love bonds that are either praised and happily blessed or love bonds that undergo struggle and pain to cling on to their forbidden love. Gwendolyn Brooks sonnet "A Lovely Love," explores the emotions and thoughts between two lovers who are striving for their natural human right to love while delicately revealing society 's crime in vilifying a couples right to love. Gwendolyn Brooks uses several examples of imagery and metaphors to convey a dark and hopeless mood that emphasizes the hardships that the two lovers must endure to prevail their love that society has condemned.

It is important to note that the first eight lines are a part of a single sentence. This is important because it means that if we remove the repeated poetic verse found within these lines, we discover that Millay is simply saying “Love is not all… / Yet many a man is making friends with death / Even as I speak, for lack of love alone” (1-8) . This is a justifiable conclusion because after the words “Love is not all” the author uses a colon, which means that the lines following are simply a definition for what she means by “Love is not all” (1) . When put in such simple terms, it’s easy to see how this is almost indistinguishable from saying, “Love is not all, but it would be better to be dead than not have it.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay's "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, and Where and Why" is an effective short poem, which feeds on the dissonance between the ideal of love and its reality, heartbreak. In William Shakespeare's "Let Me Not to The Marriage of True Minds," the effectiveness is weakened by its idealiality and metaphysical stereotype. In contrast to Millay, Shakespeare paints a genuine portrait of what love should be but unfortunately never really is. This factor is what makes his poem difficult to relate to, thus weakening the effect on the reader. These poems were published quite far apart from each other, three-hundred and fourteen years to be exact, which might explain the shift in idealism. Though both circumnavigate the concept of

The poem “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why” is quite compelling though a bit baffling at first glance. The writer of this poem is Edna St. Vincent Millay, whose an American poet and playwright. Millay was born in Maine into a poverty-stricken family. Her mother was a fan of classic literature varying from William Shakespeare to John Milton and would read these poets’ works to her daughters. Ultimately, inspiring Millay into becoming a poet herself. In 1923, Millay won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry being the third female to win this award. In the poem, “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, an explanation of the poem’s meaning, form, and pattern will be made in order to understand this writer’s work.

Nor ought but love from thee recompense Thy love is such I can no way repay, The heavens reward thee manifold I pray. Then while we live, in love let's so persevere, That when we live no more, we may live ever. Anne Bradstreet's poem "

In Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Love is Not All (Sonnet XXX),” the poem’s writer originally discredits the value of love, claiming that it is not essential because it does not support life; however, later Millay describes that love has some value.

Vincent Millay is portrayed as a woman who is educated in the routine of everyday life. This woman is longing for new friends and experiences, but she cannot seem to grasp hold of them. In real life, Miss Millay was an ambitious person who was willing to tackle anything without giving up. This information helps one decipher the metaphorical words of Miss Millay’s poem that may be confusing due to the fact it was written in 1921, shortly after World War I. The poem is about her view of life and how one sometimes misses out on opportunities. Readers would possibly be people who want to experience something else in life, but Miss Millay leaves it open for anyone to interpret. The woman in the text suggests that she is satisfied with what she has, but would not mind something different. The purpose of the poem is to explain that some opportunities are not for everyone. Some are taken, while others are given. Miss Millay is trying to get the point across that one must be willing to take risks or chances because they could be gone the next moment. Opportunities pass us by every single day; it is our choice whether or not we decide to take them. One must do a little thinking before they are able to come to this conclusion. The poem has a longing or desiring feeling to it. The woman in the poem is emotional; she has a determination for experiencing something new in life. She talks about her feelings and describes the relationships she has and does not

There are many different themes that can be used to make a poem both successful and memorable. Such is that of the universal theme of love. This theme can be developed throughout a poem through an authors use of form and content. “She Walks in Beauty,” by George Gordon, Lord Byron, is a poem that contains an intriguing form with captivating content. Lord Byron, a nineteenth-century poet, writes this poem through the use of similes and metaphors to describe a beautiful woman. His patterns and rhyme scheme enthrall the reader into the poem. Another poem with the theme of love is John Keats' “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” meaning “the beautiful lady without mercy.” Keats, another nineteenth-century writer, uses progression and compelling

The reason I chose this poem is mostly the discrepancy I have towards the message. I think that one should love wholeheartedly. Although there is the chance of ending up heartbroken, one would never know what love is truly like if he or she would not take the risk of fully loving another person. Just because William Butler Yeats had his heartbroken by a cruel woman does not mean that others will end up with the same fate. Yes, if one is “deaf and dumb and blind with love” in my opinion, he or she will end up heartbroken. However, if one is smart about giving their heart away and gives it to the right person then they have a good chance of ending up happy. Therefore, I believe that everyone should take the chance and love with all of their heart but do it carefully, and no matter what the outcome; they would still have the experience of loving unconditionally.

Each poem represents loves hold upon an individual, love is a strong influence that alters our usual perceptions. It's a unique phenomenon that brings out a side of us we never

When there comes love, there comes the idea of giving yourself to another partner wholehearted. By doing this, one must trust that person and be vulnerable. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “How Do I Love Thee?” exemplifies what love is truly about. Browning describes love as unconditional and pure. The poem about love is similar to the song “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol.

The poem “How Do I Love Thee”, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and “What Lips My Lips Have Kissed”, by Edna Vincent Millay are both well-known poems that both have themes of love. (LIT, Kirszner & Mandell, Pg. 490). In both poems the poet helps the reader experience a lot of emotion with the use of certain words. There are speakers in both poems. In Mrs. Browning’s poem, the speaker is undefined, leaving open that the speaker could be a he or she. Millay’s poem which is written in first person, the speaker is more defined leading the reader to believe it is a she who is talking about love in the past tense. Both poems are sonnets written with fourteen lines, and written in Italian style. When comparing these poems we will be looking at the use of rhyme scheme and metaphors and how they were used to express emotions in these two sonnet poems.

Society’s perception of love changes constantly. As a result, poems of different time periods have different perceptions of love and beauty. Ben Jonson’s “A Vision of Beauty” and Samuel Daniel’s “But love whilst that thou mayst be loved again” reflect the importance of physical beauty in love during the Renaissance Era. In the Victorian Period, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt’s “I See You Juliet” and Robert Browning’s “A Face” continue to reflect society’s fascination with female beauty in both a positive and negative way. In the Modern Period, a shift occurs in both marriage and love with a greater emphasis on true love and inner beauty. William Butler Yeats’ “When You Are Old” and Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Only Until This Cigarette Is Ended” show