Analysis Of Love Is Not All

Love is Irrational, Yet Valuable in One’s Life In American poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Love Is Not All,” first published in 1931, Millay skeptically contemplates the necessity and value of love within one’s life during times of hardship. At first glance, the poem can be easily interpreted as Millay’s bitter conclusion that love is unnecessary through the title, “Love Is Not All,” which the reader can infer, “Love Is Not All [That].” The title itself suggests that love is not all of what it seems to be and nor does it encompass big significance. The author guides the reader through their thoughts as they attempt to convince themselves of this conclusion by comparing love to essential basic human needs, all of which aim to emphasize love’s shortcomings for survival. Millay further manipulates the sonnet form to stray from traditional rules, creating the impression that a sonnet’s typical purpose to praise and admire is instead replaced to criticize love. However, Millay truly does intend to praise the value of love, only indirectly by acknowledging that people would choose to die solely for “lack of love alone” (Line 8) despite fulfilling the basic necessities to survive comfortably. Thus, rather than “Love Is Not All [That],” Millay expresses fond feelings for love, and that although “Love Is Not All,” it is enough as a valuable and influential, yet irrational force in one’s life shown through the use of imagery and deviation from the traditional form of a sonnet. Love