Poetry Group

Question:

mel135
mel135
Student
High School - 11th Grade

What are the poetic devices used in the poem "First Fig", by Edna St. Vincent Millay?

How does the author use diction to create tone?

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Posted by mel135 on Tuesday January 13, 2009 at 6:01 PM and tagged with edna st vincent millay, first fig, poetry, tone.

Answers:

  1. morrol
    morrol Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The speaker in the poem "First Fig" by Edna St Vincent Millay creates a tone of longing and sadness combined with joy. The complexities in such a short poem are immense. The beginning of the poem in filled with diction that represents loss. Words like "burns", and "will not last the night" express what soon will no longer be. Then, with a rhapsodic "ah", the speaker turns the poem to say that the very thing that will soon burn out is "lovely". This creates a tone of hope, and a metaphor for the human experience. Human lives who burn furiously may fade fast, but the light and beauty that they create is beautiful.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/edna-st-vincent-millay-salem/edna-s...
    http://www.enotes.com/edna-st-vincent-millay-salem/edna-s...
    http://www.enotes.com/guides/lit/Authors/M/edna-st-vincen...

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    Posted by morrol on Thursday January 15, 2009 at 7:25 PM