RD 2 - Poetry

8/12/2019 RD 2 - Poetry

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Clift 1

James Clift

Introduction to Poetry, ENG 2240

Dr. Karen Moloney

2/26/14

Getting into the Meat of Millay’s “Love is Not All”

In her poem, “Love is Not All,” Edna St. Vincent Millay addresses the oft-overlooked

plainness of love. In a contemplative state, the persona begins to question the importance of love,

providing examples of essential human needs that love cannot account for. She notices that, even

though “love is not all,” there is considerable demand for it. Nevertheless, the persona admits

that if pressured to “sell [her lover’s love] for peace,” and though love lacks many qualities, she

would not do it. Millay enhances the general meaning of the poem and adds depth with the use of

many poetic devices. Her use of imagery, meter, diction, allusion, and irony allows the reader to

better understand the message, therefore increasing the sentiment of the poem. The poem is divided into three quatrains, with a final couplet, identifying it as a standard

Shakespearean sonnet. The poem can be more accurately divided into three full, main sections.

Lines one through six compose the first section, while lines seven and eight comprise the second

section, and the last six lines make up the third and final section. Each section is a crucial step in

the narrative. The first section presents the persona’s initial claim and evidence, whereas the

second section is the opposing evidence; in the third section, Millay presents a scenario to

address the previous sections starting in line nine, “It well may be that in a difficult hour,” with

“I might be driven to sell your love for peace” in line twelve. In this thought experiment, Millay

even seems to support the notion that “love is not all,” but then eliminates all belief of this idea

with the last sentence of the piece, “I do not think I would.” Because Millay opens with one

statement, contradicts that statement, supports it again, and then eliminates it, she succeeds in

bringing a unique quality of mystery and ambiguity to the poem. Though there are countless

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metrical variations, Millay writes the piece primarily in iambic pentameter, as evidenced in line

six, “nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone.”

The first section is a great example of how Millay uses diction to assist in the

presentation of imagery, and how both devices combine to create a compelling narrative. Every

line of this section contains elements of both diction and imagery. Some examples include, “nor

slumber nor a roof against the rain,” “love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath,/ nor clean

the blood, nor set the fractured bone.” The repeated use of the word “nor” connotes abundance:

so many things that love cannot do. Word choice is also important. The word “slumber” in the

first example is chosen over “sleep” not only to fulfill a five-foot requirement, but also to

provide connotation of especially heavy rest rather than a light sleep; this achieves two main

goals. First, it provides yet another example of something essential to life that love itself cannot

bring, thereby supporting the persona’s claim that “love is not all,” and second, it more heavily

supports the image of a person in deep sleep, adding realism to the poem. “Slumber” therefore

contributes to a stronger relation with the poem and the reader by strengthening the imagery of

the words following it. From “not meat nor drink” to “set the fractured bone,” Millay provides a

surreal sense of imagery even with tight poetic restraints. The detailed images bring relevancy

into the poem and keep the reader enthralled.

The use of allusion and meter also enhances the imagery in the first section, particularly

in lines three to four, “nor yet a floating spar to men that sink,/ and rise and sink and rise and

sink again.” Millay alludes to the way the central wooden shaft of a boat’s mast bobs up and

down in the water and, as if that image isn’t enough, she utilizes diction and more imagery to

greatly improve the image. Again, word choice is deliberate and critical. The purposeful use of

polysyndeton on the words “and,” “rise,” “sink,” denotes a strong sense of urgency, another form

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of imagery, but this time in the mode of an emotion or sensation. Millay’s use of iambic

pentameter contributes to and strengthens that sense of urgency.

The second section presents an ironic theme and serves as a critical point in the poem,

utilizing enjambment and meter to increase speed and ease diction. Millay provides a stark

contrast in regard to the first six lines of the poem. She points out the cultural and societal

discontinuity that, even though “love is not all,” people treat it like it is. Useful in presenting the

stark irony of the second section is enjambment. What makes this enjambment so effective is the

punctuation and meter structure. The word “death” at the end of line seven is without a comma

or period or any other ending mark, facilitating the speed of the transition to the next line. A

reading aloud of the second section reveals an incredulous tone made possible only by Millay’s

enjambment, as if the persona believes it irrational that people take love so seriously when “love

is not all.” Furthermore, the following phrase, “Even as I speak [for],” contains a trochee,

pyrrhic, and another trochee, simplifying the flow of the transition and especially the meaning of

the line. Also useful in the rhetoric of the second section is the ironic metaphor, “making friends

with death.” The ironic nature of the phrase forces the reader to reexamine the poem up to that

point, at which time the irony becomes much more clear.

As the third and final section begins, the persona begins to contemplate what would

happen “in a difficult hour.” The persona suggests that in such a circumstance, “Pinned down by

pain and moaning for release,” she would have to give up her love for an individual. Rather than

employ the last two lines of the sonnet for a famous Shakespearean turn, Millay places the turn

in the last six syllables of the last line: “I do not think I would.” Tr ue to the standard

Shakespearean turn, Millay successfully manages to turn the whole poem’s message around, or,

at least, present a critical change in the theme of the message. Up to this point, the whole poem

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entertained the supposition that “love is not all,” and then as Millay exposes the truth, “I do not

think I would,” she reveals the true, ironic meaning of the poem, that love is, in fact, all.

It is worth noting that several aspects of the poem’s meaning vary due to meter and

tempo. For example, in line five, Millay divides the word “cannot” into two different feet.

Depending on the stress placement of the word, which also changes from reader to reader and

also in the context of which it’s being used, line five can therefore have three different

connotations. If “cannot” were trochaic, the line would take on a more poignant, almost

questioning sort of tone; if it were iambic, the line would be persuasive; and if it were spondaic,

more persuasive and even forceful. It is nearly impossible for the word to be pyrrhic, but if it

were, the line would gain an attribute of sadness. Furthermore, “pinned down” in line ten could

either be spondaic or iambic. Due to the iambic nature of the poem, it is most likely the latter, but

it is important to distinguish the implications of the difference. “Pinned down” being spondaic

would increase the effectiveness of the line’s imagery, whereas being iambic would increase the

tempo – which affects also affects imagery, albeit in a different way. These meter and tempo

variations are used as a form of audible imagery to influence the emotions felt by the reader.

Millay’s strong use of poetic devices plays a significant role in the message and emotion

of the poem – from the moment she notes that love is neither “meat nor drink,” to the moment

she confesses her devout love for another individual. Combined, the devices assist the reader in

establishing a deeper connection with the poem. Millay’s use of imagery, meter, diction,

allusion, and irony helps the reader understand not only the message of the piece, but also

reflects the array of conflicted emotions of the persona. Millay’s use of these poetic devices

gives the reader a meaty perspective and grasp of a woman’s struggle with love.

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RD 2 - Poetry