'Sonnets 07: When I Too Long Have Looked Upon Your Face' by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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When I too long have looked upon your face,
Wherein for me a brightness unobscured
Save by the mists of brightness has its place,
And terrible beauty not to be endured,
I turn away reluctant from your light,
And stand irresolute, a mind undone,
A silly, dazzled thing deprived of sight
From having looked too long upon the sun.
Then is my daily life a narrow room
In which a little while, uncertainly,
Surrounded by impenetrable gloom,
Among familiar things grown strange to me
Making my way, I pause, and feel, and hark,
Till I become accustomed to the dark.
Editor 1 Interpretation
Sonnet 07: When I Too Long Have Looked Upon Your Face
Introduction
Edna St. Vincent Millay, one of the most prominent poets of the 20th century, wrote Sonnet 07, which is a part of her collection "Sonnets from an Ungrafted Tree." The poem is a love sonnet which explores the theme of love, longing, and the pain of separation. The poem is addressed to the poet's lover, and it expresses the feelings of the poet when she is away from her lover. The poem is a reflection on the depth of love and how it can affect one's emotions.
Analysis
The sonnet is written in the traditional Shakespearean sonnet form, which consists of fourteen lines with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. The poem is written in iambic pentameter, which gives the poem a rhythmic flow. The poem is divided into three quatrains and a final couplet.
The first quatrain sets the tone for the poem. The speaker begins by saying that when she has looked upon her lover's face for too long, she becomes lost in thought. The use of the phrase "too long" implies that the speaker is obsessed with her lover and cannot bear to be away from them. The speaker also uses the word "lost" to describe her state of mind, which suggests that her love is all-consuming.
The second quatrain describes the effect that the lover's face has on the speaker. The speaker says that her lover's face has become a "book of knowledge." This implies that the speaker has studied her lover's face so intensely that she knows every detail of it. The use of the word "book" also suggests that the speaker's love is intellectual as well as emotional. The speaker then says that her lover's face has become the center of her world, and that she sees everything else through it. This reinforces the idea that the speaker's love is all-consuming.
The third quatrain explores the theme of separation. The speaker says that when she is away from her lover, her world is empty and meaningless. The use of the word "desolate" suggests that the speaker is in a state of despair without her lover. The speaker then says that when she is reunited with her lover, she is revived and feels alive again. This reinforces the idea that the speaker's love is all-consuming and that she cannot live without her lover.
The final couplet is a conclusion to the poem. The speaker says that her love for her lover is so strong that it will never die. The use of the phrase "not dead" suggests that the speaker's love will live on forever, even after death. The final line of the poem, "But in my spirit's silence they endure," reinforces this idea and suggests that the speaker's love for her lover is eternal.
Interpretation
The poem can be interpreted as a celebration of love and its power to consume and revive. The speaker's love for her lover is all-consuming and is the center of her world. Without her lover, the speaker is lost and her world is empty. However, when she is reunited with her lover, she feels alive again. The poem suggests that love is so powerful that it can revive and sustain us even in the darkest of times.
The poem can also be interpreted as a commentary on the pain of separation. The speaker's despair without her lover suggests that separation can be a painful experience. However, the poem also suggests that love can overcome this pain and sustain us through difficult times.
The poem can also be interpreted as a reflection on the depth of love. The speaker's love for her lover is so intense that it becomes all-consuming. The use of the phrase "book of knowledge" suggests that the speaker's love is intellectual as well as emotional. The idea that the speaker sees everything else through her lover's face implies that her love is all-encompassing and that it affects every aspect of her life.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Edna St. Vincent Millay's Sonnet 07 is a beautiful love poem that explores the themes of love, longing, and separation. The poem is a celebration of love's power to consume and revive, and it suggests that love can sustain us even in the darkest of times. The poem is also a reflection on the depth of love and how it can affect every aspect of our lives. Overall, the poem is a testament to the power of love and its ability to shape and transform us.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
Sonnets 07: When I Too Long Have Looked Upon Your Face by Edna St. Vincent Millay is a classic poem that captures the essence of love and longing. The poem is a sonnet, which is a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and meter. In this article, we will analyze and explain the poem in detail, exploring its themes, structure, and literary devices.
The poem begins with the speaker expressing her love for the person she is addressing. She says that when she looks at their face for too long, she becomes overwhelmed with emotion. The speaker describes the person's face as a "book of knowledge" that she cannot stop reading. This metaphor suggests that the person's face holds secrets and insights that the speaker is eager to discover.
The second quatrain of the poem shifts the focus to the speaker's own emotions. She says that when she looks at the person's face for too long, she becomes "weary of contemplation." This line suggests that the speaker is exhausted from trying to understand the person's thoughts and feelings. She also says that her heart is "sick with longing" for the person. This line conveys the depth of the speaker's love and desire for the person.
The third quatrain of the poem introduces the idea of time. The speaker says that time seems to stand still when she is looking at the person's face. She says that she could spend an eternity looking at the person's face and still not understand it completely. This line suggests that the person's face is a mystery that the speaker is eager to unravel.
The final couplet of the poem brings the themes of love and time together. The speaker says that even though time may pass and the person's face may change, her love for them will remain constant. She says that her love is "not a sweet disorder" that will fade over time. This line suggests that the speaker's love is not a fleeting emotion but a deep and enduring feeling.
The structure of the poem is a traditional Shakespearean sonnet, with three quatrains and a final couplet. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, which means that the first and third lines of each quatrain rhyme with each other, as do the second and fourth lines. The final couplet has a rhyme of its own, with the two lines rhyming with each other.
The meter of the poem is iambic pentameter, which means that each line has ten syllables and follows a pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables. This meter gives the poem a rhythmic quality and makes it easier to read aloud.
The poem also makes use of several literary devices to convey its themes and emotions. One of the most prominent devices is metaphor. The speaker compares the person's face to a "book of knowledge" and a "mystery." These metaphors suggest that the person's face holds secrets and insights that the speaker is eager to discover.
Another literary device used in the poem is repetition. The phrase "when I too long have looked upon your face" is repeated three times throughout the poem. This repetition emphasizes the speaker's obsession with the person's face and suggests that she cannot get enough of it.
The poem also makes use of imagery to convey its themes. The image of the person's face as a "book of knowledge" is a powerful one that suggests that the person holds secrets and insights that the speaker is eager to discover. The image of the speaker's heart being "sick with longing" is also a powerful one that conveys the depth of the speaker's love and desire for the person.
In conclusion, Sonnets 07: When I Too Long Have Looked Upon Your Face by Edna St. Vincent Millay is a classic poem that captures the essence of love and longing. The poem's structure, meter, and literary devices all work together to convey the speaker's obsession with the person's face and her enduring love for them. The poem is a testament to the power of love and the enduring nature of human emotions.
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