Renascence and Other Poems is a collection of poems written by Edna St. Vincent Millay, an American poet and playwright who was known for her wit, bold themes, and unconventional meter. The title poem, "Renascence," is a long and complex work that reflects Millay's own experiences and struggles as a young woman coming of age in the early 20th century.
"Renascence" is divided into six parts, each of which explores a different aspect of the human experience. The first part, "The World Below the Brine," describes the speaker's feelings of isolation and despair as she contemplates the vastness of the ocean and the smallness of her own existence. The second part, "The Coming of the Muses," describes the speaker's awakening to the beauty and power of the arts, and how they bring meaning and purpose to her life.
The third part, "The Flower," explores the themes of love and loss, as the speaker reflects on a past relationship and the fleeting nature of human emotion. The fourth part, "The Cross," reflects on the speaker's struggle with faith and her search for meaning in a world that often seems cruel and random. The fifth part, "The Birthplace," describes the speaker's sense of connection to her family and her home, and how they have shaped her identity and worldview.
The final part, "The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls," is a meditation on the cycle of life and death, and how all things must eventually pass away. Throughout the poem, the speaker grapples with the weight of her own mortality and the uncertain nature of the future, but ultimately finds hope and renewal in the beauty and majesty of the natural world.
In addition to "Renascence," the collection also includes several other notable poems, such as "Spring," "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver," and "First Fig." These poems, like "Renascence," explore themes of love, loss, and the human experience, and showcase Millay's skill as a poet and her ability to convey powerful emotions through her words.
Overall, Renascence and Other Poems is a poignant and thought-provoking collection that reflects the depth and complexity of the human experience. Millay's writing is powerful and evocative, and her poems continue to resonate with readers today, nearly a century after they were first published.
Renascence and Other Poems: The Poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Edna St. Vincent Millay
I will look at cliffs and clouds With quiet eyes, Watch the wind blow down the grass, And the grass rise. The heart can push the sea and land Farther away on either hand; The soul can split the sky in two, And let the face of God shine through. Death, I say, my heart is bowed Unto thine,—O mother! Love, in my sleep I dreamed of waking,— White and awful the moonlight reached Over the floor, and somewhere, somewhere, There was a shutter loose,—it screeched! How easily could God, if He so willed, Set back the world a little turn or two! This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. I cannot but remember When the year grows old— October—November— How she disliked the cold! I did not know, Then, that it was the last. Nothing I leave, and if I naught attain I shall but come into mine own again! Vincent Millay, including one of the best-known American poems "Renascence.
Renascence and Other Poems.
I have been torn In two, and suffer for the rest of me. And beautiful the bare boughs Rubbing to and fro! For I shall not Plant things above your grave— the common balm Of the conventional woe for its own wound! Ah, Life, I would have been a pleasant thing To have about the house when I was grown If thou hadst left my little joys alone! It appeared like a sudden storm, with mammoth, moving images: the colorful torque. That day—that day you picked the first sweet-pea,— And brought it in to show me! In 1917, "Renascence" was inc The poems of Edna St. I know the path that tells Thy way Through the cool eve of every day; God, I can push the grass apart And lay my finger on Thy heart! I was in a Millay Mood yesterday and thus pulled this slim volume out and read it cover-to-cover. I saw and heard, and knew at last The How and Why of all things, past, And present, and forevermore. She used to watch the swallows Go down across the sky, And turn from the window With a little sharp sigh. And I have waited well for thee to show If any share were mine,—and now I go! Though at times in her life, and perhaps even after, she was eclipsed by her sexuality and life choices, I came to this collection through another work and only learned of her persona later.
Renascence and Other Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay (full text)
Each page elicited the epic and the flawed personal. My fairest gardens stand Open as fields to thee on every hand. There is always something fresh, something new, in it- some new understanding, some new and wondrous appreciation for a metaphor, image. This was a good read. Good, now read the Millay is one of those poets I think oh sure, I've read, but then realized I really hadn't. Was there an opening bud beside it You left until to-morrow? Up then from the ground sprang I And hailed the earth with such a cry As is not heard save from a man Who has been dead, and lives again. If all at once Faith were to slacken,—that unconscious faith Which must, I know, yet be the corner-stone Of all believing,—birds now flying fearless Across would drop in terror to the earth; Fishes would drown; and the all-governing reins Would tangle in the frantic hands of God And the worlds gallop headlong to destruction! Sometimes you have to give a poem a bit, look past the rhyming and look at the meaning.
