Old+++Analysis

"Love Is Not All"**
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 * Old Analysis**

The sonnet "Love Is Not All" exemplifies the poet's views on love through its message that love is of secondary importance because it cannot provide for physical needs. However, the speaker is uncertain if he would give up love for bodily comfort. This message is emphasized by the use of poetic devices including rhyme, repetition and alliteration. Millay's poem takes the form of a sonnet- fourteen lines of rhymed iambic pentameter. As a twentieth-century poet, however, Millay apparently feels free to combine elements of the two most common sonnet forms (see Structure ). "Love Is Not All" uses the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet, but the turn in the poem occurs after the eighth line. Typical of an Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet, the turn divides the poem into an octave and a sestet, each with a different theme.
 * "Structure" cite from Kathryn**

In the first eight lines of Millay's sonnet, the speaker points out all that love cannot do. Love is not food nor sleep. Love cannot shelter a person. Love cannot heal; the speaker stresses each incurable ailment by repeating the letter "B" in "breath... blood... bone" (Effinger). Millay's speaker also repeats "not" and "nor" as he lists every way in which love is lacking. The speaker piles his arguments on the reader, creating a compelling picture of why love is unnecessary. The speaker then abruptly stops using the negative form, saying "yet many a man is making friends with death / Even as I speak, for lack of love alone." The switch draws attention to these two lines, which end the octave. //The speaker is referring to suicide here, but there is more than one possible interpretation of this line. Are these people being scorned because they commit suicide over a lack of love? Or is the speaker pointing out how important love is to human life?// //(do we want this?)(is there a citation to support this?)//

However, the speaker reveals in the sestet that he is not certain if he values food and comfort more than love. He uses wording such as "it well may be" and "I might be" when he wonders if he would trade love for food or release from pain. These are ambiguous phrases that reveal the speaker's uncertainty. Millay also uses the letter P for emphasis in lines 10-12, beginning with "pinned down by pain," and ending with "peace" (Simon). A "P" sound is choppy, which accentuates the strength of the emotions being discussed. Despite the vividness of these feelings, the speaker indicates that he doesn't know how he would respond by closing the sonnet with the line "It well may be. I do not think I would." Millay reintroduces a negative to emphasize the last sentence. This short, complete idea is a powerful statement of the speaker's uncertainty. "Love Is Not All" contains only four sentences. Placing two in the last line is sure to draw the reader's eye.
 * talk about P's?**

Speaker points out all the things that love cannot do: - feed - sleep - shelter - heal you Devices to emphasize these points - nor and not - repetition of rise and sink (supported by Simon) - "B"s in "blood, bone, breath" ("Love is Not All")

Prepare for the turn: At the end of octave, the speaker switches to how people die (commit suicide) because they don't love Multiple ways to read this: - these people are stupid for feeling so strongly about love - love must be important if people are killing themselves over it

At the turn, the speaker states he does not know if he would give up love. Evidence of this; - "It well may be," "it might be" are uncertain - The speaker has already established that love does not provide physical comfort. However, would the speaker give it up for comfort? (10-13) - "I do not think I would." Complete sentence- a powerful statement of the speaker's uncertainty.

"Love Is Not All" is another example of how Millay contradicts the "patriarchial view of love" (**cite)** in many of her sonnets. //-// Examples //-// Millay uses a traditional form (the sonnet) while presenting modern views of love (Greenwood **cite**) - speaker takes time to point out all the stuff that love can't do

As we have shown, Love in "Love is Not All" is not overly **dramatized** (right word?). Love is not all everyone needs... but the speaker recognizes how important love is to him. He is not sure if he would give it up to ease his hunger or pain.

Effinger, Sandra. __"Love Is Not All" by Edna St. Vincent Millay__. 17 Nov. 2008 < http://homepage.mac.com/mseffie/assignments/poetry/millayset.html >. Simon, John. http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/all-for-love-2377 11/17/08 (look at) //Greenwood Encyclopedia (in the library)//

Old thesis: The sonnet "Love Is Not All" exemplifies the poet's views on love through its message that love has great value despite that it cannot provide for physical needs. This message is emphasized by the use of poetic devices including rhyme, repetition and alliteration.