The Treatment of love in "Love is not all" by Edna Millay

While love may be an extremely touchy subject as well as one that can be incredibly hard to interpret in a unique way, it is not impossible to broach the subject from a fresh perspective; In “Love is not all” Edna St. Vincent Millay is able to approach love in a way that initially seems extremely pessimistic and almost cold, but continues on to show the reader that she is not actually all that closed and even reveals some vulnerability by the very end. While the more negative approaches she uses would appeal to some people, it seems that if you actually take the time to read it a few times the cynical façade fades away and you can understand Millay’s interpretation of love as guarded but not completely negative.

Millay’s treatment of love in “Love is not all” appears to be as unique as her interesting perspective and way of looking at the subject. While the easiest route may be to read the poem and judge her for being cold and closed of the idea of love it makes more sense to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she is wary, but not closed to the idea as we know it. If you take her tone and diction, perhaps not as cynical but as a guarded reaction to love lost, the poem instantly takes on a completely different feeling and becomes more of a commentary on a universal feeling of heartbreak then it is pure cynicism. If you continue to read the poem keeping in mind the idea of her jaded attitude being the result of some sort of past unrequited love you can see that her tone isn’t as distant as it originally seems but is in fact hurt or wounded at best, the statement “I might be driven to sell your love for peace” (Millay, 12) can be seen as a statement from a miffed lover as opposed to one from an anti-love extremist....

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...ill the thickened lung with breath” (Millay, 5) this certainly does not seem to be a line that would be found in most love poems. Her treatment of love in this way, paired with the possibility of hope and redemption by the end of the poem makes for an interesting read that adds stimulating change to a usually formulaic genre.

Millay is able to push past the boundaries of love poems and with her words stride confidently towards poetry that is not enslaved by genre, expectations or judgment. In “Love is not all” her treatment of love is unique but still tender enough to appeal to a wide variety of new readers as well as those who enjoy classic love poems, she strikes a careful balance between radical and conventional and her handling of love flourishes because of it.

Works Cited

Millay, Edna St. Vincent

Virtual Campus. University of Ottawa. 10 Feb 2011