Love Through the Ages
"It is better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all." Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950), a famous poet from the modern period, published "Love is not all" in 1931, centuries after "To My Dear and Loving Husband", by puritan poet Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), was published in 1678. While comparing these two poems, one can see many similarities and differences ascribed to the different time periods they were written.
"To My Dear and Loving Husband" and "Love is not all" are different in their content and meaning. Although both of the poets are exploring the relationship between love and death, they come to different results at the end of their work. Bradstreet finds her love for her husband so worthy when she says, "I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold"(l.5). On the other hand Millay thinks that she "might be driven to sell [his] love for peace,"(l.12).
English: "The Tenth Muse," a collection of poems a...
one of the more common paintings of anne bradstree...
Photograph of Edna St. Vincent MillayOne can notice a contrast in tone between the two poems. Bradstreet's tone is spiritual, while Millay's tone is playful. There is one paradox in each of the poems. In "To My Dear and Loving Husband", Bradstreet explains that people who are no longer alive on earth can be alive forever in heaven. She says, "that when we live no more, we may live ever"(l.12). Millay explains that love can't save lives but people can die without it. This paradox is spread in the first six lines of the poem. Although these poems are written in different time periods, they have many similarities considering their content and meaning.
Ann Bradstreet and Edna St. Vincent Millay have different styles. Part of this difference is ascribed to the different time periods in which they lived. In "To My Dear and Loving Husband" images like...
Love
This is a well thought out essay and I enjoyed your take on the poem.
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