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Recuerdo Millay Analysis

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For my personal response, I chose to analyze “Recuerdo” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Initially, I thought this poem had something to with immigration but the more I read it, the more I realized that the speaker wasn’t riding the ferry to get somewhere, he and his friend were continuously riding it back and forth all night. That 's when I concluded that the speaker must work on the ferry. They way he repeats that ‘we were very tired, we were very merry..’ makes me want to think that this person must have to practice customer service. It seems sarcastic and rather forced the way it 's repeated over and over again. And anyone who’s worked in customer service knows that regardless of how tired you are or the circumstances you’re in, you have to put on a happy face. I work in customer service and I completely understand those feelings. Like the speaker’s in the poem, every job has its ups and …show more content…

Working at Dunkin’ Donuts may not appear to have a bright side, and it may always smell like a mixture of grease and coffee. And I might be perpetually sticky every day before the sunrises, but at least I get to see the sunrise. At least I have money to buy food for myself, like the speaker in the story. Occasionally I have so much money I buy things I don’t even really need, like that newspaper the speaker bought and neither of them read. But I realized I’m blessed even though I have a job that happens at seemingly inhuman hours, and that giving back is an important part of life. I personally am not nearly as generous as the people in the poem, but I do tithe 10 percent of my earnings to my church every month. The people, on the other hand, gave all that they could possibly give to their mother. I believe this is where the title “Recuerdo” comes in. ‘Recuerdo’ means memory in Spanish, and I think that it 's a memory the speaker is sharing in order to remind others and perhaps himself to be generous even when you work hard for what you

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