In the poem, “What lips my lips have kissed” by Edna Millay, is an expression of a woman who is struggling to find attention and love but unfortunately, she cannot conclude it. In many years, her beauty id fading and her desire to find love are in vain. Now she is no longer with anyone but the rain that is left to accompany her. The speaker cannot imagine how she used to get attention from many men in the past and now she has lost all as she writes.
The poem is very genuine and easy to understand. The speaker has totally forgotten her past lovers and the reason why they were together. “The lips my lips have kissed, and where and why?” shows that she has no memories of the past life she was in during the times she was in love. The fact that the speaker cannot remember all these things, give me the symbolism that she is old. Now it is the time she is listening to the rain as it taps on the window then she waits for it to reply. No one can listen to the rhythm of the rain with a company of another person. She feels all alone and unloved. In this
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She says, “… I cannot say what loves have come and gone…”, “… I only know that summer sang in me…”, “… a little while, that in me sings no more…” In this message, it is true that she has no reason as to why she was involved in love. It is a show that she had many reasons as to why she involved herself in love. In this part, the lone tree is referring to the summer. The summer is an indication of the best moments the lady had. The times the men came to call on her was summer for the tree as they were singing in its branches. But now it is the winter, the birds have migrated the tree and the tree has been left alone. The way the speaker put up all these seasons, is a show of the real seasons. The summer represents the times when one is young and vibrant and the winter is a representation of the time when one is at their old age and in their last days of their