Love Is Not All By Ralph Waldo

Both “The Right of Love” by Gene Lees and “The Canonization” by John Donne represent a form of forbidden love due to ethnicity and religion where both parties are fighting for the acceptance of their relationship. Donne, although catholic, falls in love with a non-catholic woman which is looked down upon by others. In his poem he states, “we in us find th’ eagle and the dove”,the two birds represent two polar opposite symbols, the eagle represent strength and courage, while a dove represents love and peace. Although a relationship between catholics and non-catholics were forbidden, they found a common ground in their love for each other. Differences can strengthen the love between two individuals, which is also shown in “The Right of Love”,

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.”

“Sonnet 116” written by William Shakespeare is focusing on the strength and true power of love. Love is a feeling that sustainable to alterations, that take place at certain points in life, and love is even stronger than a breakup because separation cannot eliminate feelings. The writer makes use of metaphors expressing love as a feeling of mind not just heart as young readers may see it. To Shakespeare love is an immortal felling that is similar to a mark on a person’s life.

I choose these poems because they all in one way or another are similar to each other. I felt my favorite poem about the irony of love was Parable of the four poster by Erica Jong. For instance Parable of four poster by Erica Jong is about a man and woman who are in love with each other but do not have the guts to say or do anything about it. For this reason they both think the other wants nothing to do with them so they move on to the next person which is who they end up marrying. This was the “four-way mistake” (Jong 16). Not expressing your love can love yourself and that individual but also those individuals around. All this time they thought the other one wanted nothing to do with them but they lay with their spouses thinking of the other.

The author persuades people to use their head before just using the words heart or love to give the word its true meaning. Carruth also displays what happens to words when they tend to be misused which is that they usually lose their value over time if they are not of great importance. Through his writing style in the poem, Carruth shows how people freely use the word “heart” and how it affects the meaning of the word. He opens and closes the poem with a question, refers to the heart as 'it' in the first stanza, and shows uncertainty of the importance of the heart in the first stanza as well.

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.

In the opening lines of Millay’s poem, it seems as if she is speaking to a lover. The tone of the poem is set in the first line, “in some quite casual way” (1). Throughout the sonnet, one senses a frighteningly casual tone, something very matter of fact, as if these fourteen lines are a passing thought in Millay’s head. The alliteration of “quite casual” supports the plain-spoken tone, giving a feel of simple, everyday speech. Millay imagines that as she is on the subway, she casually glances over and notices on “the back-page of a paper, say / Held by a neighbor” (3-4) her lover is gone and not to return.

Millay throughout her poem utilizes symbolism which sets the tone of loneliness and nostalgia, making it easier for the reader to grasp the meaning of the poem. The first two lines of the poem, “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why, / I have forgotten, and what arms have lain” (Millay 1-2) the speaker explains in a subtle way about her former lovers she has now forgotten. “Under my head till morning; but the rain/ Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh/ Upon the glass and listen for reply,” (Millay 3-5) the speaker uses symbolism on her former lovers as ghosts that are tapping and can be interpreted as them prompting her memories. “And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain/ For unremembered lads that not

Thanksgiving is expressed as a holiday many Americans recognize as the day of giving thanks to a variety of things in your life along with representing a humble outlook. Throughout the course of history, a turkey is plucked and cooked to be served as the main course of the meal, alongside side dishes such as the popular mash potatoes and macaroni pasta. Within this full course meal, leftovers are eaten for days, possibly even weeks after Thanksgiving due to the amount of food. With America’s growing population and poverty levels, How many people are starving on this day of giving and feasting? How many individuals are helped and brought into food shelters and provided the food they cannot afford? I am intrigued by these questions as I read

This is an example of Millay showing her feminism because she speaks very freely of her love life to a huge audience. Although she does not talk about how she supports free love and her expression of free love in her personal life this poem still shows her stance on expressing yourself and being open about your love life which is very feministic of

Love is not all good though. Love can hurt and be confused with lust, and get tangled with jealousy, anger, and envy. Everybody wants love though, and some people are willing to do anything for it. In her poem “Love Is Not All” Edna St. Vincent Millay acknowledges

A poem is a piece of writing that partakes of the nature of both speech and song that is nearly always rhythmical, usually metaphorical, and that often exhibits such formal elements as meter, rhyme, and stanza structure. In her poem, “Variations of the Word ‘“love”’,” Margaret Atwood introduces to her audience the word “love” from many different perspectives. Google defines “love” as “an intense feeling of deep affection”, or “having a deep feeling or sexual attachment to (someone).” But “love” is not something that can easily be described. Atwood goes on to present and portray the word through different illustrations, beginning with cliché examples and ending with her own personal scenarios. The author’s tone and metaphorical language effectively conveys her perspective of “love”.

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

Love. Let this word sink deep into the abyss that is your mind for a moment. What thoughts, if any, come rushing to the forefront? Is it your family, a girlfriend or boyfriend, an object? Love, it is an all too powerful word that is often tossed around with reckless abandon in today’s fast-paced and ever advancing society. The question is: is true love something that is attainable in the world we live in or are there too many obstacles in our path that mitigate the chance to find the greatest part of what makes us human? Erich Fromm raises this question, among others, in his book The Art of Loving.

A lot of inspiring art comes from artists who have experienced excessive trauma which allows them to create such alluring things. People who do not go through intense emotions --whether they be positive or negative-- aren’t able to create art on an sentimental level. People find passion in hatred and love and infuse their emotions into their work which makes them artists who create pieces with so much depth and meaning behind the words. Walt Whitman's piece Sometimes with the One I Love is about just that. Whitman's poem retains the passion that he feels for a woman who does not return the love that he feels for her. Though at first look, the piece seems to be regarding being in love, the understanding behind it is deeper. Through this unrequited love, he is able to create emotional pieces of work. He believes there is no such thing as useless love because though she doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, he is able to translate the passion he feels for her into words on paper.