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Edna St. Vincent MillayA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The poem opens with the command “Listen, children:” (Line 1). The statement is an addressed command accentuated by the placement of a colon after the word “children” (Line 1). The colon placement after the word “children” signals that an explanation is about to follow. It also works with the command “Listen” (Line 1) and the noun “children” (Line 1) to establish the poem’s authoritative address. The mother continues her explanation using blunt language. She continues, stating “Your father is dead” (Line 2). Structurally, the poem begins expanding at this point, and the mother establishes the premise of her explanation.
At this point, the poem’s tone shifts from one of bluntness and reality to practicality. The mother focuses on providing for her children. The line structures remain short and emphatic. She states, “From his old coats / I’ll make you little jackets” (Lines 3-4). The mother’s focus on repurposing the father’s “old coats” (Line 3) is not only pragmatic, it is also one way for her to make sure her children have something by which to remember their father. The mother continues, stating “I’ll make you little trousers / From his old pants” (Lines 5-6). By emphasizing “jackets” (Line 3) and “pants” (Line 6), the mother is making sure her children are fully clothed.
By Edna St. Vincent Millay
An Ancient Gesture
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Conscientious Objector
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Ebb
Edna St. Vincent Millay
I Will Put Chaos Into Fourteen Lines
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Not In A Silver Casket Cool With Pearls
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Song of a Second April
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Spring
Edna St. Vincent Millay
The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver
Edna St. Vincent Millay
The Courage That My Mother Had
Edna St. Vincent Millay
The Spring And The Fall
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Travel
Edna St. Vincent Millay