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Sonnet 29

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Sonnet 29
Analysis of Sonnet 29

Sonnet 29 is a poem written by Edna St Vincent Millay. It shows that the poet realizes that the one she loves did not love her long enough. Throughout the entire poem, she employs metaphors in order to connect the ideas with the message of suffering love causes.

Edna St Vincent echoes “Pity me not” in the sonnet because it highlights the reader should not feel guilty about anything that goes wrong with her. As in the first six verses she talks about how nature also deteriorates. Therefore, we do not need to feel sorry for what she was going through because every cycle comes to an end. In addition, the hope or the love will inevitably fade away. The “light of day” represents the hope that “at close of day no longer walks”. Romance can last for a period of time but in the end it will disappear without any exception. Moreover, the light could represent the happiness every couple enjoys together before its time to go arrives.

The author portrays that superficial beauty fades as the time passes. “Beauties passed away””as the years go by”, it means that as women grow older, society thinks that their attractiveness deteriorates. As everything that needs to get to the end. Furthermore, Edna St Vincent emphasises that every single thing turns hideous in one point. “From field to thicket”. It symbolizes a relationship. How it collapses, it begins as something almost celestial and it ends up being crashed.

The readers need to understand that in the end there is nothing left. “not the waning of the moon” “nor the ebbing tide goes out to sea””nor the man’s desire is hushed”. It becomes clear that the poet is addressing this three verses to someone she loves but he does not love her back. Due to the fact that she mentions things that ebb and flow, they soon stop moving and retreat. Additionally, the audience can realise that the poem is directly referenced to someone who had a relationship with the poet and she finally admits it is over. “You

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