Similar Themes in Love is Not All by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Since feeling is First by E. E. Cummings

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Recommended: a short note on theme of love in literature

The main theme of the two poems is love. However, their prospective on the topic differs just slightly. In “Love is Not All” by Edna St. Vincent Millay tells how love will not cure a sickness or injury, but in some way it is still a necessity in life. Whereas in “Since feeling is First” by E. E. Cummings describes how love is more important than logic in the end and how you should not worry about what you are getting out of love because it is essential for a well-balanced life.
The main theme in the two poems is how love is not explainable, but is needed for a well-balanced life. They both portray that love is not necessarily logical. It cannot be described or explained perfectly because you do not think about it. It just needs to be in your life. Love never heals the sick or weak, but it does have a powerful influence on our well-being. Love is not all about living in the reality of things. However, at the end of it all they still represent what someone feels love is and the main theme in both of these poems is love.
Even though they are comprised of the same theme they are very much different on the point of view of love and also structure. Their prospective on love can cause these poems not to be paired together because they are so different. “Love is Not All” asks the question what can love do for you, why do we hold love so highly. It also explains that even though we obviously it cannot cure the sick or repair the broken. While “Since Feelings are First” says the complete opposite. It describes that love is very important in living a well-balanced life and that you cannot question what you get out of it.
Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in 1892 and married Eugen Boisevain in 1923. Eugen and Edna were known to have an op...

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...o the homeless. It also says that love is pointless in every way possible, but at the same time it is still essential to a well-rounded life. In the end the theme of the two stories remain the same. They are both about love and how love is not analyzable it is just there.

Works Cited

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “Love is not all” Literature; Reading, Reacting, Writing. ED. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 257-68. Print.
Cummings, E. E. “Since Feeling is First” Writersalmanacpublicradio.org. Writers Almanac, 2006. June 4, 2006. http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2006/06/04
Suttor, Marijane. “Poetry Analysis Sonnet Xxx by Edna St Vincent Millay” Humanities360.com. Humanities 360, 2012. June 18, 2012. http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/poetry-analysis-sonnet-xxx-by-edna-st-vincent-millay-6971/

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