Edna St. Vincent Millay's sonnet "Love Is Not All" describes love unlike other sonnet's by great poetics. It does not intially portray love as a universal feeling of magnitude felt by all. It is as orindary and unimportant as many objects that are taken for granted in this age. Although love can never be forgotten or traded in for ones life it is still of importance in this sonnet. These ideas are described with help of figurative language and the conventions of the Shakepearean sonnet with some minor alterations.

In the first octave of "Love Is Not All", Millay shows that love is arbritrary, it is not food or water, and it will not save a drowning man from death or give one air to breath, it is mearly an emotion that conquers all others and makes everything else absolete. This poem uses indirect theme and abrupt change in message to add more emphasis to the meaning of the poem. By beginning the poem with an image that cont

rasts the main theme, Millay is able to inflict a more vivid impression on the reader. Even the title gives us an idea of what the poem's theme is likely to be. "Love is not all" suggests that the persona is decrying love.

This change of perspective is one of the more delicate and indirect tools used to drive a point home to the reader.The sudden contrast in mood and theme catches the reader's attention. To make the the last line stand out with emphasis, Millay employs inconsistent line structure and rhyme scheme in addition to the theme change. Throughout the sonnet, the lines are long and full of many-syllable words. The final line, however, is very simple. It contains single syllable words, and uses no figurative language. "It well may be. I do not think I would" simply states the message.The use of figurative speech earlier in the sonnet to state the opposing thought makes this line more memorable and powerful. This line does not fit into the rhyme scheme of the sonnet, eithe

Some common words found in the essay are:
Love Millay, Vincent Millay's, St Vincent, Edna St, edna st vincent, edna st, rhyme scheme, love millay, change message, sonnet lines, ones life, st vincent, figurative language,
Approximate Word count = 665
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)