An Examination of the Complexities of Love in Millays Poem, Love Is Not All :: Millay Love Is Not All

An Examination of the Complexities of Love in Millays Poem, Love Is Not AllLove is not all it is not meat nor drinkEdna St. Vincent Millay It is said that Millays later work is more of a mirror image of her life. This particular verse was written 1931, when she was thirty-nine. Unlike or so of her earlier work this is not a humorous poem. It is very deep and meaningful. This is a complex poem. She even began with a complex idea, love. What exactly is love? Is it a feeling, an emotion that no one has control of? Is love something you can feel or touch? Some say it is not something that you can feel or touch, but you be well aware when love touches you, because you can feel it. It is an emotion that causes pleasure and pain. In this poem, Millay is showing how complex love is. The first half(prenominal) is about what love cannot do. Love is not a lifesaver, shelter, or a doctor. The second half is about the power of love. Even though love is not tangible, is it as important as something that is? Millay seems to be coming from the idea that love is not everything, but it is important. A question is raised, is love necessary for survival? Millay uses romantic language. That is evident in the first line, Love is not all it is not meat nor drink. The romantic aspect of love is shown in the language of this poem. The poem is not directly about two lovers. It is more indirect, this is what two lovers may face. Her language is picturesque. Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink / And scrape up and sink and rise and sink again It is as if the poem was showing a picture of a man in the sea that is struggling to go far and throughout the course of bobbing up and down he continues to see a pole or paddle, but he just cant reach it. There are more ideas that can be pictured easily throughout the poem, because of the language that Millay uses. Love can no fill the thickened lung with breath, / Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured drum These lines create an interesting picture in your mind.