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Edna St. Vincent MillayA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“First Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1918)
This poem is the source for the idiom “burning the candle at both ends.” Millay’s first line reads “My candle burns at both ends” (Line 1). Unlike the long lines of “Conscientious Objector,” “First Fig” contains only four short lines. However, both poems place friends and enemies together. Millay writes, “But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends” (Line 3) in “First Fig,” which is echoed in Line 9 of “Conscientious Objector”: “I will not tell him the whereabouts of my friends nor of my enemies either.” “First Fig” is a poem about the youthful rebellion of which Millay was part in postwar Greenwich Village.
“Because I could not stop for Death—” by Emily Dickinson (1890)
This poem exemplifies the tradition of personifying Death, who is depicted as an anthropomorphic figure. Unlike “Conscientious Objector,” Dickinson’s Death is a kindly figure who needs no assistance. Death’s calm “Civility” (Line 8) is emphasized, and, rather than being insistent and hasty, this Death is slow and purposeful. In this way, violent deaths aided by humans in warfare contrast with natural deaths leading to a cool and calm graveyard. It is also notable that Dickinson’s work was published after her death, and became highly influential—especially in feminist and queer communities throughout the 20th century, which included the Greenwich scene and Millay.
By Edna St. Vincent Millay
An Ancient Gesture
An Ancient Gesture
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Ebb
Ebb
Edna St. Vincent Millay
I Will Put Chaos Into Fourteen Lines
I Will Put Chaos Into Fourteen Lines
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Lament
Lament
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Not In A Silver Casket Cool With Pearls
Not In A Silver Casket Cool With Pearls
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Song of a Second April
Song of a Second April
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Spring
Spring
Edna St. Vincent Millay
The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver
The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver
Edna St. Vincent Millay
The Courage That My Mother Had
The Courage That My Mother Had
Edna St. Vincent Millay
The Spring And The Fall
The Spring And The Fall
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Travel
Travel
Edna St. Vincent Millay