As you analyze this poem, you have to think about the
poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay and her life. Born in 1892, Millay was born in a time
period where people had certain expectations of the ways that women should behave. The
rights of women were limited. Millay did not agree with this way of thinking. She was
a feminist, a person who fought for women’s rights. Use the link below to look up
information about the poet’s life.
The poem “The Princess
Recalls Her One Adventure” illustrates Millay’s feelings about marriage and lost
love.
The first stanza of the poem reflects a feeling of
unrest. The speaker cannot get comfortable in her bed. Is her pillow really hard? Are
the linens really harsh? As a reader, we infer that something is bothering the
bride.
The last three stanzas refer to the memories of a
lost love. The bride is crying, reading love letters and reminiscing about a love. You
must think about what kinds of questions you have regarding this lost love. Include
these questions in your response.
Finally, we learn in the
last two lines that the speaker is a bride. She is most likely entering a marriage she
doesn’t want to enter.
As a reader, you must combine your
background knowledge about the time period in which the poem was written with your own
questions and inferences about the poem.
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