ipl-logo

St. Vincent Millay's Poem, Oh You Will Be Sorry For That Word

1316 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Shakespearean sonnet essays

Edina St. Vincent Millay’s poem “Oh, Oh You Will Be Sorry for that Word” is a lyric poem in which a woman is arguing with a man that started when he said something derogatory about her reading such a large book when she is a delicate creature. The woman is obviously upset about the fact her supposed friend/lover/husband behaved badly towards her. It is a Shakespearian Sonnet because the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG with a meter that most likely resembles trochaic. The only line that does not fit into the meter is line three. The poem has Masculine Rhyme because the words that rhyme do so with the last syllable. This is evident in every line, but an example is “sly / by” (10-12.) Millay’s poem is an excellent example of endstops. Every …show more content…

The fact that they are no longer on the best of terms is well defined when she spits out “Was it my enemy or my friend I heard,” (3) to the man who is so determined that she can not do anything but be a good wife.
The fourth line is a symbolism that shows the way women are perceived in a man’s mind. “What a big book for such a little head” (4!) The “such a little head” (4) is a symbol of how men perceive a woman’s mind. Little ladies do not have to nor need to read when they are barefoot and expecting in the kitchen cooking; that is unless it’s a cookbook. It implies that the woman is incapable of reading a book that is beyond baby books, cookbooks, or the Bible. Women should only be interested in their family.
“Come, I will show you now my newest hat, / And you may watch me purse my mouth and prink” (5-6.) This line is an example of synecdoche. The use of “newest hat” (5) is used to describe a man’s view of the whole of womanhood. The hat represents the male’s perspective of woman only caring about materialistic and miniscule things. The “purse my mouth and prink” (6) is saying that he can watch as she primps and makes herself presentable for the public. She is using this as a slam to him for thinking that all women are only interested in their accessories. She is being sarcastic, but he probably does not get it because some women do not use sarcasm, so all women must not use

Show More
Related
478 Words | 2 Pages

Now I do not interpret either of these quotes or Janie?s rebuke overall as an attack on men; I think she speaks out about women?s role in society and to show the men a different perspective of women. The content in both of the quotes emphasizes finally of what Janie thinks about the world she lives in, and it also marks a huge development in Janie?s character. Now, of course, the content of quote is contributing factor character development, but the fact that she said something is even a bigger revelation of Janie?s character. Janie could have said nothing and gone with the norms of society, but instead, she went against it. Throughout the beginning of the novel Janie has been going with society expectations, but her rebuke in this chapter puts Janie?s character on a different path.

Read More
1203 Words | 5 Pages

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, written by Dai Sijie, is set in 1971 during the China’s Cultural Revolution. The book starts with two boys, unnamed narrator and his friend Luo being sent from their hometown Chengdu to a small village in Phoenix Mountain to be “re-educated”. The book continues with them skillfully living through the harsh village life with their talent of storytelling and their western knowledge gained from books. Throughout the novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie illustrates different types of literature and how it transforms the character’s life, action and their personalities in both good and bad way. This book is one unique novel about two boys and one little girl’s transformation by the magical

Read More
892 Words | 4 Pages

It has been said that “beauty is pain” and in the case of this poem, it is quite literal. “For That He Looked Not Upon Her” written by George Gascoigne, a sixteenth century poet, is a poem in which the speaker cannot look upon the one he loves so that he will not be trapped by her enhanced beauty and looks. In the form of an English sonnet, the speaker uses miserable diction and visual imagery to tell the readers and his love why he cannot look upon her face. Containing three quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end, this poem displays a perfect English sonnet using iambic pentameter to make it sound serious and conversational. This is significant because most sonnets are about love and each quatrain, in English sonnets, further the speaker’s

Read More
1141 Words | 5 Pages

These are crudely translated into being manly women, which is an oxymoron. The fundamental attribution error shown here, is how women are called “virile” but men are disregarded, because no one would ever tell a man to watch his language or his manners. “The New Greenhorns,” also includes how hating on smokers is a way disguise ageism within the American society. No one would ever say they hate old people, but people do say they hate smokers? That’s hypocritical.

Read More
334 Words | 2 Pages

The poem, Dirge Without Music, by Edna St. Vincent Millay, is expressing that a loss of a loved one can be difficult to overcome. In this poem, the author tends to repeat the same phrase. “I am not resigned” (Millay 1.1). According to the google dictionary being resigned means “Having accepted something unpleasant that one cannot do anything about.”

Read More
605 Words | 3 Pages

Structurally “Dim Lady” has little to do with the firm guidelines of true sonnets, however this choice gives Mullens a greater degree of creative liberty when it comes to the rescripted Sonnet 130. The more contemporary style of free verse rather than structurally rigid helps to create the more modern feeling of the overall work and in turn allows Mullens to shape Shakespeare's work in a new

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

Act 1 Passage Quiz This passage has the structure of a sonnet since it is written in iambic pentameter, has the same rhyming scheme and the correct number of lines. For starter, the passage is written in iambic pentameter, which means that one syllable is unstressed, while the other is stressed. An example of this is in line 4, the word to, is unstressed, while smooth is stressed, and the pattern continues... In addition, the passage includes the correct rhyming pattern of a sonnet.

Read More
693 Words | 3 Pages

Sandra Cisneros is a famous poet from the late twentieth century. Most of her work is popular due to her profound thinking. Her work was very unique and incorporated an extraordinary type of dreamy abstraction. Most observers of her work can agree on this. My Wicked Ways, proved her talent to be “extremely electrifying”, according to the The New York Times Book Review.

Read More
1130 Words | 5 Pages

As one can see, many mothers in today 's society would not be nearly as picky and constructive as the mother within "Girl" written by Jamaica Kincaid. Young girls almost always look up first to their mother for guidance and instruction on how to be a woman. Although the advice used in this story was used to help the young girl, it was also used to scold her as well. The mother 's strong belief in a woman having domestic knowledge is what drives her to preach the life lessons of a good woman to her daughter. It is through these lessons that she hopes for her daughter to be respected within her own home and by her community as well.

Read More
1988 Words | 8 Pages

In this quote, resides this patriarchal idea that women aren’t supposed to read. The fact that Corey’s wife is reading books scares him to the point that he is concerned and even contacts the reverend about the action. Corey states, “It discomforts me!” Corey expresses his discomfort about her reading, and shows the readers that at this time, women were not expected to read, and it was a rare occurrence if they did. Corey later “redeems” himself by paying his life to save another man’s name, but in the end, Corey’s aged philosophy of women’s simplicity lead to the couple’s

Read More
496 Words | 2 Pages

When the author writes “I saw him say something to her under his breath- some punishing thing, quick and curt, and unkind” By describing the husband’s words to be so abusive, it leads readers to infer that the integrity of this relationship is shaky,

Read More
1440 Words | 6 Pages

Heaney uses the English pattern sonnet as a form of ironic gesture towards the English. The poet took a risk in creating a both political, both rape poem, as these two topics are very controversial. He still managed not to become too political, but he let us know his inside thoughts about the matter. He describes women as weak, as someone who is easily oppressed.

Read More
1264 Words | 6 Pages

It acts as a euphemism by making the audience feel as though they aren’t being chastised by a word as blunt as “You” or even just “Men.” Instead of making the men Catt is speaking to feel as though they have had a proverbial finger pointed at them, they feel less insulted by the unifying word “our”. It would be unwise to start bashing men in her speech when ultimately she needs them, so instead Catt connects with them to gain credibility. Yet another way that Carrie Chapman Catt gains credibility with her audience is through her utilization of overall educated and informed diction.

Read More
1282 Words | 6 Pages

In these short poems, the authors utilize particular rhetorical techniques and methods to reflect the speakers’ personality and motivation. Therefore, presenting the speaker becomes the main focus of the authors. In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess,” both poems reflect the speakers’ traits through monologue, figurative language, and symbolism. However, these two speakers’ personalities are different due to their attitude toward their beloved. The speaker in Sonnet 18 is gentle and delighted but frustrated because the ideal metaphor comparison of summer is not perfect for describing his beloved; the poem thus suggests that the way you love others reflects how you feel about yourself.

Read More
1395 Words | 6 Pages

(lines 93-98) It appears as if women are hard to understand and decipher when it is men who simply have a misunderstanding of the women’s needs. It seems as if the knight will never find his answer to such a simple question until he comes across an old lady who

Read More

More about St. Vincent Millay's Poem, Oh You Will Be Sorry For That Word

Related Topics

Open Document