Analysis of Pity Me Not Because The Light Of Day

Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892 (Rockland) – 1950 (Austerlitz)



Pity me not because the light of day
At close of day no longer walks the sky;
Pity me not for beauties passed away
From field and thicket as the the year goes by;
Pity me not the waning of the moon,
Nor that the ebbing tide goes out to sea,
Nor that a man's desire is hushed so soon,
And you no longer look with love on me.
This have I known always: Love is no more
Than the wide blossom which the wind assails,
Than the great tide that treads the shifting shore,
Strewing fresh wreckage gathered in the gales:
Pity me that the heart is slow to learn
What the swift mind beholds at ever turn.


Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG
Poetic Form Shakespearean sonnet 
Metre 1011010111 1111110101 1011110101 11010100111 1011010101 1101011111 11010101111 0111011111 111111111 1011010101 1011110101 111010001 1011011111 101111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 587
Words 121
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 462
Words per stanza (avg) 119
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

36 sec read
180

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet and playwright. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923, the third woman to win the award for poetry, and was also known for her feminist activism more…

All Edna St. Vincent Millay poems | Edna St. Vincent Millay Books

4 fans

Discuss this Edna St. Vincent Millay poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Pity Me Not Because The Light Of Day" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/9416/pity-me-not-because-the-light-of-day>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    8
    hours
    45
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote "Ode to the West Wind" that inspired a political and moral change?
    A Sylvia Plath
    B William Shakespeare
    C Ted Hughes
    D Percy Shelley