"Spring"
This poem by Millay is written in free verse. It has little, if any metrical regularity. The speaker address the month of April and the arrival of Spring. Unlike the typical joy expressed upon the arrival of spring flowers, this poet expresses a disgust and weariness with the signs of Spring. The poet explains that the beauty of Spring only serves to conceal death and disintegration. In line 13, Millay concludes that "Life in itself / Is nothing,". The poet personifies Spring as "an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers." (Line 18). With this poem, Millay expresses an ironic disdain for that which would conceal or ignore the darker sides of life. The tone is cynical and the speaker seems jaded. The poem opens with a question; "To what purpose, April, do you return again? / Beauty is not enough." (Lines 1-2). The poem paints Spring with its flowers and renewal as something detestable, deceptive, and naive. The notion of personifying and questioning cosmic cycles of time is easy to connect to pagan ideas of the natural world but here we are presented with an ancient idea in a form which is quite modern.
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