I've been away from Eratosphere for a while, and I apologize for reviving an old thread.
The thing about this poem which strikes me is how simple it is in a Frostian kind of way. Her sentences are clear and straight out, without any of the adornments or props found in so much metered poetry. There is no unusual syntax, no heavy alliteration, no dramatic metaphors, no lofty allusions. It's a stripped down, minimalist kind of poetry, yet it has just enough poetic elements (primarily rhyme and meter) to give it structure and form. I like all that stuff that she left out, but I also like simplicity. It's the difference between an elegant line-drawing and a flowery landscape.
Yet the simplicity doesn't come at the expense of dignity. The language is proper and crisp, and the character of the speaker is restrained -- again, like Frost. I don't think she was imitating Frost, but Frost could have written something similar. This kind of simple, dignified language is something that I aspire to, yet it is very hard to achieve. Hardy, I think, also achieved it on occasion.
I've said this before here, but let me say it again. I think one of the reasons Millay doesn't get much respect is that she employed some of the cliched phrasing of traditional poetry. This poem doesn't have much of that, but it can be seen in a couple lines, such as:
I should but watch the station lights rush by
... and ...
Where to store furs and how to treat the hair.
There is a certain pretentiousness in "should but" and "the hair". In other poems of Millay's, the pretentious phrases become a real problem. For example, her sonnet "I shall forget you presently" is almost ruined for me by this line:
I would indeed that love were longer-lived,
That "would indeed" phrase is a tired linguistic cliche. It is the language of the pampered society girl. She apparently never felt the need to eliminate such language from her poetry.
Of course, that's not the only reason she isn't respected as much as she should be -- the main problem, I think, is that modern critics see everything that is simple as being simplistic.
Despite what I've just said, Millay is one of my favorite poets -- I just wince a bit when I read certain phrases.
(Sorry that this post is so long. I must be a frustrated professor -- I can't say anything without launching into a full analysis.)
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Caleb
www.poemtree.com
[This message has been edited by Caleb Murdock (edited April 26, 2001).]
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