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Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem, "I will put Chaos into fourteen lines," is obviously a sonnet. You automatically know this by the title since it says "fourteen lines." It has 2 quatrains (1 octet) and 1 sestet, like any other sonnet would. However, this sonnet is not like any other sonnet. The structure of this sonnet is pretty close to being perfect, while the content is sort of abstract and different.
Millay uses the metaphor of a prison for chaos in the first 3 lines to show that the speaker wants to imprison chaos because of the crimes he has committed against people--referencing "years of our duress" and "our awful servitude." She also uses the repetition of "him." This symbolizes the relationship with the man that seems chaotic. Millay wants the reader to comprehend this easily, therefore repetition was the literary device she used.
In line 3, she uses forceful language with verbs "twist" and "ape" to describe the action of his chaos, but the way she uses it is not particularly "smart." Her message comes off with not very complex descriptions. Although some words she uses are surprising, those words are commonly known. This goes along with how the content doesn't go along with the structure. Simply because she doesn't use a variety of diction.
However, the language that she uses helps the reader visualize the abstract concept of chaos. Such as: "amorphous shape" and "strain to nothing in the strict confines." This is different than most sonnets because it refers to the form itself, rather than the content.
Overall, Millay's poem is very strange, but has a meaning, like every other sonnet you would read.
Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem, "I will put Chaos into fourteen lines," is obviously a sonnet. You automatically know this by the title since it says "fourteen lines." It has 2 quatrains (1 octet) and 1 sestet, like any other sonnet would. However, this sonnet is not like any other sonnet. The structure of this sonnet is pretty close to being perfect, while the content is sort of abstract and different.
Millay uses the metaphor of a prison for chaos in the first 3 lines to show that the speaker wants to imprison chaos because of the crimes he has committed against people--referencing "years of our duress" and "our awful servitude." She also uses the repetition of "him." This symbolizes the relationship with the man that seems chaotic. Millay wants the reader to comprehend this easily, therefore repetition was the literary device she used.
In line 3, she uses forceful language with verbs "twist" and "ape" to describe the action of his chaos, but the way she uses it is not particularly "smart." Her message comes off with not very complex descriptions. Although some words she uses are surprising, those words are commonly known. This goes along with how the content doesn't go along with the structure. Simply because she doesn't use a variety of diction.
However, the language that she uses helps the reader visualize the abstract concept of chaos. Such as: "amorphous shape" and "strain to nothing in the strict confines." This is different than most sonnets because it refers to the form itself, rather than the content.
Overall, Millay's poem is very strange, but has a meaning, like every other sonnet you would read.