Literary Criticism of Edna St Vincent Millay - Research Paper Example

The poem appears straight-forward, however, the words seem to have greater meaning than one can comprehend easily. Moreover, St. Edna experiments in this poem by giving it a title, “Love is not all”: This gives the poem its tone. From a mere point of view, one may think that this poem describes a person suffering from depression of love by asserting that love cannot assist a person in times of difficulty. However, in the middle of the poem, St. Edna posits that Love is basically not adequate to live with and one may even sell it during periods of difficulties.

In the last stanza of this poem, St. Edna says that she does not think she would sell her lover; this gives its readers the idea that some people may sell their love for material things such as food, while others may not. Another strategy employed by St. Edna to explicate the theme of love in her work is through application of a simple approach, though not simplistic. Her works i.e. “Love is not all”, leaves its audiences doubtless. This is facilitated through her simple ways of communication, basically ensuring that her works are enjoyed and appreciated.

Taking an analysis of “love is not all”, St. Edna does not appear to take one decisive stand; that is, she does not encourage men and women to lose all their material and emotional possession in the name of love. Some critics have asserted that “Love is not all”, by St. Edna is basically a timeless statement in the sense that love cannot provide one with food and shelter (Maduxx et al, 11). On the other hand, some critics have asserted that St. Edna’s work are simple merely because they do not appear as if they are politically instigated or meant to achieve certain political objectives (Milford et al, 6). St. Edna was considered one of the traditional poets that were heavily disturbed by the existence of death as well as the idea of dying.

In this regard, she has placed emphasis on wordplay as well