Millay's Poem Spring

Throughout different eons, poets have contemplated the cycle of life and death, as well as the cycle of the seasons. Different perspectives pervade different forms of poetry, culminating in either finding meaning in the movement of time, or perhaps taking a more pessimistic view of the inconstancy of human life in contrast to nature’s eternity. Millay, in her poem “Spring”, takes a more skeptical view of the trope that spring brings with it consolation and recompense for loss, signifying rebirth and a revitalization of the world. Instead, she focuses on the reality of life in the now; the fact that the seasons come and go doesn’t change that. The trope is superficial, as a facade of flowers and happiness won’t change or fix time. However,

For Millay, her lack of structure directly reflects her stern and skeptical tone, almost to the point of ridicule, as she calls the personification of April “an idiot.” Life to Millay still remains the same despite the season’s arrival, and therefore death remains prevalent to her, a necessity to life. To reflect this cynical lack of revitalization, there is no conformity to structure or repetition. On the other hand, Bethell uses the flower, an image of spring, life, and happiness, to reflect on death, as flowers also harken back to funerals and tombstones. This connotation showcases the reflective yet bittersweet tone of the speaker. And even though Bethell’s poem contains an “ABBA” rhyme scheme within each stanza, which creates the image of links to a chain, it wobbles and threatens to fall apart in the first, fourth, and fifth, when Bethell opts to use assonance instead: “Because their fragrance / As the seasons hasten.” (22­23) This slight change in rhythm reflects the speaker’s hesitant tone, and her contemplations while moving on from her loss. The assonance itself creates a fragile feeling during these slant rhymes, as if the words themselves are about to break. The constant struggle between moving on and realizing that death is just part of the cycle of life is important throughout Bethell’s poem, and is further reflected in its structure by her use of the word “flower” in the first and last lines. Despite her initial hesitation throughout the poem, she ends

The second line of her poem personifies memory: “Memories ask garlands.” (2) In this line, the speaker externalizes her “memories”, and the use of “ask” further establishes the hesitation felt throughout the rest of the poem. Since Bethell uses garlands as a symbol of circularity, the memories almost seem to be asking for stability, or perhaps for the return of the deceased. In either case, memories are also viewed as a chain of events in which each link is connected to the next. This comparison connects the man­made with the natural, further supporting the cyclicality of the poem and how the cycle might involve us as well. Involving humanity in the cycle is further established by the personification of death: “When Death, new­comer” (7), further connecting man with the cycle of life. Millay, in contrast, gives her personification a foolish, naive, almost annoying character, similar to that of a young child. The beginning of the poem directly apostrophizes April, a month that usually represents the coming of spring, and asks “to what purpose, April, do you return again?” (1) This tone matches that of asking a child why they’ve returned for the umpteenth time, with slight irritation. As Millay digs deeper however, contemplating life itself, her contempt for this facade grows. She ends