A Look into Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Poem

Vincent Millay could be justified by the fact that readers can easily relate to it because it talks about a universal theme, which is love. Although it reeks of regret and loneliness, the poet effectively successfully used palpable symbols and words to describe the past events that transpired in her life. In the poem, the speaker casts herself as a â€Å"lonely tree†. One writer, Epstein (2001) proclaims that this poem is â€Å"a summing up of [the author’s] love life to date, and an occasion to invoke the classic themes of elegy, the tempus fugit and the ubi sunt† (p. 139): What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why I have forgotten, and what arms have lain Under my head till morning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain For unremembered lads that not again Will turn to me at midnight with a cry. Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree, Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one, Yet knows its boughs more silent than before. It seems that the speaker in the poem is an aging lady signified by the songless tree. Indeed, she is an epitome of loneliness and regret, one that we might be tempted to read as a prototype of abandoned womanhood, pathetic and powerless. Male desire in the love sonnets where the woman as a speaker always masquerades feminine weakness and sentimentality; often beseeching, and consumed by desire. However, when a male lover speaks, it would imply â€Å"authority of suffering and, perhaps more importantly, with the authority of convention†. When Millay masquerades as a male poet masquerading as a lovesick woman, the â€Å"sense of where sincerity meets gesture and how authority aligns itself with gender is confused† (Freedman, 1995, p. 113). In its structure, the poem is classified as a sonnet that has a particular rhyming pattern: abbaabba cdedce. The poem uses alliteration and assonance. It is also rich in naturally-occurring symbols, which all readers can easily connect. The poem begins with a one-sentence octave that presents the situation in which the narrator finds herself–inside a house during the rain, reminiscing about her past and forgotten lovers. The inverted sentence structure of the first two lines almost suggests a question rather than a statement: How many lovers were there? The alliterations in the first line additionally emphasize the repetitiveness of the narrator’s sexual encounters. At the same time, the perfect tense mean that this phase of her life has been completed, and the body part symbolisms of lips, arms, and head imply her distance from the experience. In the third line, Millay moves to the present tense, where she describes the memories of her lovers (using a ghost metaphor) aroused by the rain, a symbol for gloom and melancholia. These are the lovers that â€Å"tap and sigh†. The narrator seems insinuating that the lovers themselves are irrelevant. For the same reason, â€Å"Millay picks a metaphor that hints at facelessness and lack of welcome and resonates with the specific time of the midnight hour†. The central phrase in this section is â€Å"quiet pain,† an â€Å"almost-oxymoron suggesting that the narrator’s grief is muted or accepted† (Schurer, 2005). As signified by the forward movement of tenses, Millay gives the readers a slight glimpse of things to come as well: However, undeniably, she   regrets everything and she expects no intimacy in the future. In the end, the female narrator seems not interested in the identity of her lovers as in the memory of the emotions they allowed her to experience.   Despite the sadness and regret, the narrator presented peace or redemption as a â€Å"faint echo of the emotion of love from her youth† (Schurer, 2005). Despite the lonely themes and symbols, we can sense of equality in love; to the demand by women that they be allowed to enter the world of adventure and experiment in love which men have long inhabited. However, Millay does not sound to be any feminist to argue for that equality. She just makes it subtle, exhibits it in this poem and turns it into beauty. Works Cited Epstein, Daniel Mark. What Lips My Lips Have Kissed: The Loves and Love Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay. New York: Holt, 2001. Freedman, Diane P., ed. Millay at 100: A Critical Reappraisal. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1995. Schurer, Norbert. â€Å"Millay’s what lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why†, The Explicator, 63.2 (Winter 2005): 94-97. A Look into Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Poem Vincent Millay could be justified by the fact that readers can easily relate to it because it talks about a universal theme, which is love. Although it reeks of regret and loneliness, the poet effectively successfully used palpable symbols and words to describe the past events that transpired in her life. In the poem, the speaker casts herself as a â€Å"lonely tree†. One writer, Epstein (2001) proclaims that this poem is â€Å"a summing up of [the author’s] love life to date, and an occasion to invoke the classic themes of elegy, the tempus fugit and the ubi sunt† (p. 139): What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why I have forgotten, and what arms have lain Under my head till morning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain For unremembered lads that not again Will turn to me at midnight with a cry. Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree, Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one, Yet knows its boughs more silent than before. It seems that the speaker in the poem is an aging lady signified by the songless tree. Indeed, she is an epitome of loneliness and regret, one that we might be tempted to read as a prototype of abandoned womanhood, pathetic and powerless. Male desire in the love sonnets where the woman as a speaker always masquerades feminine weakness and sentimentality; often beseeching, and consumed by desire. However, when a male lover speaks, it would imply â€Å"authority of suffering and, perhaps more importantly, with the authority of convention†. When Millay masquerades as a male poet masquerading as a lovesick woman, the â€Å"sense of where sincerity meets gesture and how authority aligns itself with gender is confused† (Freedman, 1995, p. 113). In its structure, the poem is classified as a sonnet that has a particular rhyming pattern: abbaabba cdedce. The poem uses alliteration and assonance. It is also rich in naturally-occurring symbols, which all readers can easily connect. The poem begins with a one-sentence octave that presents the situation in which the narrator finds herself–inside a house during the rain, reminiscing about her past and forgotten lovers. The inverted sentence structure of the first two lines almost suggests a question rather than a statement: How many lovers were there? The alliterations in the first line additionally emphasize the repetitiveness of the narrator’s sexual encounters. At the same time, the perfect tense mean that this phase of her life has been completed, and the body part symbolisms of lips, arms, and head imply her distance from the experience. In the third line, Millay moves to the present tense, where she describes the memories of her lovers (using a ghost metaphor) aroused by the rain, a symbol for gloom and melancholia. These are the lovers that â€Å"tap and sigh†. The narrator seems insinuating that the lovers themselves are irrelevant. For the same reason, â€Å"Millay picks a metaphor that hints at facelessness and lack of welcome and resonates with the specific time of the midnight hour†. The central phrase in this section is â€Å"quiet pain,† an â€Å"almost-oxymoron suggesting that the narrator’s grief is muted or accepted† (Schurer, 2005). As signified by the forward movement of tenses, Millay gives the readers a slight glimpse of things to come as well: However, undeniably, she   regrets everything and she expects no intimacy in the future. In the end, the female narrator seems not interested in the identity of her lovers as in the memory of the emotions they allowed her to experience.   Despite the sadness and regret, the narrator presented peace or redemption as a â€Å"faint echo of the emotion of love from her youth† (Schurer, 2005). Despite the lonely themes and symbols, we can sense of equality in love; to the demand by women that they be allowed to enter the world of adventure and experiment in love which men have long inhabited. However, Millay does not sound to be any feminist to argue for that equality. She just makes it subtle, exhibits it in this poem and turns it into beauty. Works Cited Epstein, Daniel Mark. What Lips My Lips Have Kissed: The Loves and Love Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay. New York: Holt, 2001. Freedman, Diane P., ed. Millay at 100: A Critical Reappraisal. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1995. Schurer, Norbert. â€Å"Millay’s what lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why†, The Explicator, 63.2 (Winter 2005): 94-97.

Evidence based practise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Evidence based practise - Essay Example Evident research should never refer to situations whereby there is whole sale imposition of research without attending to the patient. Further, lack of appreciation to the available research is not evidence based practice. Research is the main part of the evidence based practice in mental health. All clinicians are expected to begin with research and then integrate with their expertise and patient values (Schultz and Videbeck, 2008 p 418). Consequently, the patients also form a crucial component of the evidence based practice in mental health and addictions. Clinicians should also perform the integration of patient characteristics and make the final decisions wile informing the patient what is likely to take place in the treatment process. Clinicians should always make the ultimate judgment regarding a particular intervention or treatment plan. However, untrained persons unfamiliar with the specifics of the case should never be allowed to make treatment decisions (Stickley and Bassett, 2008). Keedy (2003, np) assert that Clinical research should ensure that accuracy and relevancy in trying to solve the problems being experienced by the patient. In addition, the clinical research should be unbiased. Further, the research should also address factors such as disease prevalence and patient populations suffering from the mental disorder. Consequently, clinical research is not complete without focusing on treatment methods. The research should also ensure that it factor in systematic reviews, reasonable effect sizes as well as clinical relevance. Finally, the research should have supporting evidence. According to Allen and Lyne (2006 p 78), Clinicians are expected to have appropriate experience in terms of skills that will lead to the promotion of positive therapeutic outcomes. The clinician should be able to conduct assessments, come up with diagnostic decisions, assess patient progress, understand cultural differences and

Is self-confidence necessary for effective leadership Essay

Is self-confidence necessary for effective leadership - Essay Example Learning to be lowly and learning to be small will make us great somedayThere is a great host of leaders recorded in the Bible. If we have to learn their ways, faith, principles, and beliefs, we will come to the inevitable conclusion that these great leaders like Moses, Noah, Peter, Paul, and many others, was found to be able and successful leaders because they have learned to accept that they are nothing; that the Creator is able to produce great things from nothing. Nothingness is the best place and idea to start a creation. When we do something out of something that already exists, we fashion it in a manner by which we always consider the kind of material that exist; but everything is possible, and every idea can be freely conceived if you create something out of nothing like what God have done (Soriano, E. F., 2004). Hollenbeck and Hall also mentioned in their article that "Leader's self-confidence causes followers to believe in the capabilities of the leader and the direction set." Contrary to that, Soriano said that "A leader, in the truest sense of the word, must be someone being followed intelligently by followers of understanding.

Higher education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Higher education - Essay Example While university attendance rates increased generally for women, there was significant variance among different segments of the population because of factors such as age, race and ethnicity. This is because especially in this age of globalization we all have multiple identities such as age, race, ethnicity, religion, full or part time student, employment status, recent immigrant or native, etc. Intersectional theory shows that ones’ various identities intersect with each other influencing how we think and act, sometimes in opposite directions. For example, a Muslim woman from a conservative family may want to attend college, but is discouraged from doing so by her strict upbringing stipulating that education is unnecessary for women. Thus while the general trend is for increased female university attendance, the actual increase varies among different population segments because of the intersection of influences prevailing in specific populations which can either encourage or d ampen the trend. Table 5-8 This table in the provided reading analyses the proportion of undergraduate degrees earned in 2004 in the US by gender, race, ethnicity and age. For example, it tells us that 61% of all graduates were â€Å"traditional†, that is full time students under 24 while the remaining 39% were over 25, presumably either part time students possibly employed or full time who may have interrupted their work career in order to upgrade their skills. In the under 24 age group 34% within the 61% were women, and in the older group 24% within the 30% were women, or more than half in each case. However, while the proportion of women exceeded men for all racial/ethnic categories, the margin of difference varied considerably. For example, African Americans of both sexes were 50% of their graduating population for both the under 24 and over 25 age groups. However, for the under 24s 30% within the 50% were women 34% within the over 24 50% were also women, that is in both cases especially in the older group over half of the African American graduates were women. In contrast, for the Asian Americans under 24 33% within the 65% were women, although they constituted 21% within the remaining over 25 proportion. It is also noticeable that for most racial/ethnic groups women are a higher proportion of graduates for the over 25 age group than they are for the younger graduates, although in each case they exceed the male rate. Although the table tells us that there are differences among racial/ethnic groups in the degree to which the proportion of female graduates exceed that of males and the higher proportion is generally even more pronounced for the over 25 age group, it dos not tell us why. Unfortunately, in the social sciences unlike in the physical sciences, one cannot easily manipulate the quantity and quality of variables in a lab experiment to determine the exact effect of each variation. Instead, one must examine different population segments and di fferent hypothesis about what economic and/or social factors are likely driving their behavior, for example, the higher proportion of African American women pursuing higher education compared to females of other races/identities. Is this because they are generally of a lower socio-economic

The Use of Animal By-products for Human Medicine Term Paper

The Use of Animal By-products for Human Medicine - Term Paper Example ill provide a background of the medical field and will be divided into two parts: the historical and culturally based background, and the prevailing contexts of the general utility of animal-based medicinal products. In the second section, I will discuss the legal and politico-economic dimensions of animal-based products, crucial in the preparation of medicines, with reference to economical, ecological, sanitary and cultural contexts. I will finally end the paper with a conclusive discussion of the future of animal-based products, with regard to the prevailing nature of their extraction and availability, as well as global viability and large-scale application. Here I will delve on why there is a need for consideration, with regard to the sustainable future utility of these products, in the growing global populations. Historical and Cultural Background Animals, as well as animal-derived products, from various parts of their bodies or organs, have through history, constituted an increa singly growing segment of medical substances’ general inventory. Their utility as sources of varying medicines is traceable to early historical times, as showcased through various cultural utilities, with this still being practiced in the field of herbal medicine. Through the aforementioned zoo-therapy, various ailments afflicting man, continue being treated and hence the importance of this form of medication to many populations. Human culture, individually/ uniquely and wholesomely, provides for a structured medical system, which utilizes different animal species, for various medicinal purposes (Costa-Neto and Eraldo 33). Amongst the myriad of therapeutic medical practices carried out within the larger global arena, zoo-therapy constitutes a vital alternative. Cultural and Historical... The paper will be organized into two main sections, which will further display the prevailing contexts influencing the need of anima-based products for human medicine. The first section will provide a background of the medical field and will be divided into two parts: the historical and culturally based background, and the prevailing contexts of the general utility of animal-based medicinal products. In the second section, the author will discuss the legal and politico-economic dimensions of animal-based products, crucial in the preparation of medicines, with reference to economical, ecological, sanitary and cultural contexts. The author will finally end the paper with a conclusive discussion of the future of animal-based products, with regard to the prevailing nature of their extraction and availability, as well as global viability and large-scale application. Here the author will delve on why there is a need for consideration, with regard to the sustainable future utility of these products, in the growing global populations. This paper makes a conclusion that with an increase in the monetary value of animals procured, with the both political and socio-economic can be either positive or negative. Positive if there is greater regulation and conservancy, with the latter resulting from increased poaching and clandestine procurement of animal species. Animal, as well as plant-based medicines, through increased utility in contemporary contexts, provide for a case study of how both western and traditional forms of medication can be incorporated into the overall human health and medical development.

There is an ongoing debate about the cost-benefit relationship of Essay

There is an ongoing debate about the cost-benefit relationship of internal controls and their ethical implications - Essay Example investigators cited that the bank lacked strict safeguards against clients laundering money, following a suspicion that illicit drug money was streaming through their internal account. The Regulations by the Federal Reserve require banks to install tight internal controls in order to detect any criminal involvements in their operations (Silver-Greenberg, 2013). This is because weak controls facilitate drug dealers and terrorists to launder money through the financial institutions. The ethical implication of Citigroup’s case is that it failed to observe the Federal’s rules of having complex control mechanisms. In this regard, money laundering might have occurred to sustain the drug traders. Banks need to ensure that they scrutinize their clients to determine the sources and the recipients of the huge sums of money. It is also evident that the management tried to manipulate its financial statements to hide transactions involving the drug dealers. The bank failed to show the money streamed through its Mexican branches into the US, which was an indication of weak controls. The Federal Reserve claims that the bank does not oversee its operations, which leads to funneling of money in support of sanctioned individuals and countries (Silver-Greenberg, 2013). The accounting ethical standards involve the reporting of accurate financial information without manipulations. This implies that organizations should not tamper with their accounting books to make them appear more profitable to the shareholders and investors. For instance, Citigroup had tampered with its records after the money laundering fraud in the backdrop of increasing dividends. Financial institutions need to observe the Bank Secrecy Act by removing tainted cash through recording of doubtful-activity reports (Silver-Greenberg, 2013). This implies that the Citigroup management failed to comply with the rules set by the Federal Reserve, which led to probing into its activities. In order to strengthen

Civil War Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Civil War - Movie Review Example Many movies based on the civil war in the United States of America have been written to dramatize and teach on the effects of civil war in America. Shenandoah film is one such movies based on civil war in the United States. Shenandoah is a movie on the civil war in America, done by James Stewart, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, and Katharine Ross and directed by Andrew Mclaglen in 1965.The movie was done in the Virginia state during civil war. In this movie, the director shows how a planter in Virginia state who was unwilling to join the civil war was forced to participate in the war between the Union soldiers and the Confederate armies, by the capturing of his son by the Union Soldiers at the river banks during their attempt to recruit more soldier to their side. This family is portrayed as peace loving and did not want to engage in the war unless it concerned them. In writing this movie, Stewart intended to teach that war is not the best way of solving grievances and political differences. The reason for participating in war must first be established and should not be based on political propaganda, as was seen between the Southern and the Northern States. His anti war sentiments in this movie was however different in some squatters as there was a belief in America, that for Union to exist among different people, it had to be fought for and won ( Warren 5). This belief certainly is what lead to civil war in America due the fight for control of the country. Despite the farmer’s opposition of his family engaging in the war according to this movie, we find them being forced to participate after the capturing of their 16 year old son by the Union soldiers. This forced the family to begin the search of their son as he is seen going even the prison in search of their captured son. In the event he finds himself engaged in the war, however he did not take sides in this war. This