HOME » WORKSHOPS » POETRY » EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY, "[I, BEING BORN A WOMAN AND DISTRESSED]" » EXPLORATIONS

Edna St. Vincent Millay, "[I, being born a woman and distressed]"

BIOGRAPHY

Reading » Re-Reading » Explorations

Millay and the sonnet

Millay was fond of the sonnet form, especially for her love poems. Compare "[I, being born a woman and distressed]" with Sir Philip Sidney's Petrarchan sonnet "[When Nature made her chief work, Stella's Eyes]" (p. 1030 LIT and pp. 793–94 LIT Shorter). You might consider the relationship between form and content and the traditional and modern in these and other sonnets in the anthology.

The theme of conflict in love

Many poems in the anthology are about the struggles of love, especially when gender roles conflict. Compare this theme in other poems written by Millay: "[Women have loved before as I love now]" (p. 1194 LIT, 919 LIT Shorter), An Ancient Gesture" (p. 1156 LIT), "[What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why]" (p. 827 LIT, 616 LIT Shorter).

You could extend your comparison further by looking at other writers' use of this theme. For example, consider John Donne's "Song" (p. 1239 LIT, 969 LIT Shorter) and "The Flea" (p. 889 LIT, 664 LIT Shorter); Adrienne Rich's "Two Songs" (p. 963 LIT, 723 LIT Shorter); and Marge Piercy's "To Have Without Holding."

Icon Directory
In The Portable Intro to Literature
In The Seagull Reader
In Portable & The Seagull Reader