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Dichotomy In Poems

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In the early to mid-1900’s, a young poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay, released a collection of poems that won her a Pulitzer Prize. Millay, well known for her progressive, feminist views included the poem, “I, Being a Woman and Distressed”, which tells a story of a woman struggling with the expectations of women of that day and the sensual feelings that battle to control her. In this poem, Millay uses diction, tone and imagery to illustrate the dichotomy between the desires she feels and the disgust she experiences for being uncontrollably drawn to a man.
Millay’s use of diction helps the reader to feel what the narrator is feeling. Notably, words like “zest” (line 4) and “frenzy” (line 13) leave the reader with a feeling of wild excitement, …show more content…

Through her use of tone of desire, Millay is once again able to make the reader appreciate the yearning for closeness. “[F]eel a certain zest [t]o bear you body’s weight upon my breast” (line 4-5). The narrator is not shying away from her pining for a physical connection and to have sex with this man. “So subtly is the fume of life designed, [t]o clarify the pulse and cloud the mind” (lines 6-7). As the narrator proceeds, she continues to admit her craving to take what she desires now and not abstain, for life is short and the pleasures of life do not last long, like wisps of smoke. In spite of these strong reactions and desires, the narrator is not fond of the way her body forces her indulgence. In the very beginning of the poem, Millay use a sarcastic tone describing the thoughts of the narrator towards the female body that she inhabits and all of its short comings. “I, being born a woman and distressed [b]y all the needs and notions of my kind” (lines 1 & 2). It is as if she is making fun of the ideals of the 1920’s era women. The tone shifts again at the end of the poem to one of condescension and callousness. “[L]et me make it plain: I find this frenzy insufficient reason [f]or conversation when we meet again” (lines 12-14). As she departs, the narrator is sure to leave the reader feeling ambivalent towards the man she just succumbed to and Millay is able to draw the reader

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This becomes evident in a lack of information about the type of society, and the reader therefore lacks a complete understanding of how the women are oppressed. As a whole, this poem sets forth the idea that female gender is fluid, and asks its readers to questions what it means to be a woman in a male dominant

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It can be said that society has always been quite judgmental, and at times misguided when it comes to women. The negative perceptions that society has towards females are often times directly related toward her actions. What a female does seems to degrade her identity and capabilities in the eyes of some men. In the poems “The Lady’s Dressing Room” and The essay “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, we can see both authors use of tone, form and style to develop their works. These poems are mainly driven by men’s attitudes towards women.

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In “The Trouble with Poetry”, and “Introduction to Poetry” Billy Collins focuses on the issue of forced inspiration, and the lack of appreciation readers, and aspiring poets have for the feel of poetry. In “Introduction to Poetry”, Collins mentions that some poetry enthusiasts try too hard to find the meaning of a poem; to try and decipher it like some ancient hieroglyphics, that they forget that poetry is not an essay and does not necessarily have to have a distinct message. In stanza’s seven and eight, the speaker states that poetry should be felt, and that what one poem means to a group of people could have a completely different effect on another group. In stanza eight “Feel the walls” is the speaker’s ways of saying that one should feel a poem and let the poem speak to them, instead of searching for what they believe to be its true meaning.

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She breaks her thoughts down in order to show the indifference. She says that women are first portrayed as objects; this patriarchal society sees us as mere bodies. Thus, we are either regarded as objects or as bodies; the mind does not exists here. Here, the subjectivity does not lie in the mind, but within the body. Women’s sole purpose is to be that of another subject’s intentions and manipulations.

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