Sonnet 29 - Commentary

In class today, please write a commentary on Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Sonnet 29".


Sonnet 29
Edna St. Vincent Millay

Pity me not because the light of day
At close of day no longer walks the sky;
Pity me not for beauties passed away
From field to thicket as the year goes by;
Pity me not the waning of the moon,
Nor that the ebbing tide goes out to sea.
Nor that a man's desire is hushed so soon.
And you no longer look with love on me.
This have I known always: Love is no more
Than the wide blossom which the wind assails.
Than the great tide that treads the shifting shore.
Strewing fresh wreckage gathered in the gales:
Pity me that the heart is slow to learn
When the swift mind beholds at every turn.

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Your commentary should take the following form.

Paragraph 1 - Introduction – Include the title and author, a general explanation of the subject matter, a summary of what the poem is about, and what the key themes of the poem are (if there are any).

Paragraph 2 - Include detailed, stanza-by-stanza (or section-by-section, with line references) analysis of what is actually happening in the poem (without the greater depth of analysis coming later).

Paragraph 3 - Discuss the subtext and the implied. Look at the way that the poet hints at wider meaning, how a greater range of interpretation can be applied. This paragraph should lead in to the analysis of style in Paragraph 4.

Paragraph 4 - This paragraph should be a focused discussion of the way the poem is written and structured with regard to style – analysis of diction, rhythm and rhyme, figurative imagery, mood and tone, alliteration and assonance, the way that pace is controlled and atmosphere created – with detailed reference to the text in the form of quotation and line references.

Paragraph 5 - Link this poem with any other literature (especially poetry) you have read or studied. What are some common themes? In this case, you should be thinking especially about how this poem compares with Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnet 43".

Paragraph 6 - Conclusion – Discuss your overall feeling about the poem, its abiding images, and whether it is successful or not in what it sets out to do.