I Being Born A Woman And Distressed

I Being Born A Woman And Distressed

By Edna St Vincent Millay

I, being born a woman and distressed
By all the needs and notions of my kind,
Am urged by your propinquity to find
Your person fair, and feel a certain zest
To bear your body’s weight upon my breast:
So subtly is the fume of life designed,
To clarify the pulse and cloud the mind,
And leave me once again undone, possessed.
Think not for this, however, the poor treason
Of my stout blood against my staggering brain,
I shall remember you with love, or season
My scorn with pity,—let me make it plain:
I find this frenzy insufficient reason
For conversation when we meet again.

Summary of I Being Born A Woman And Distressed

  • Popularity of “I Being Born A Woman And Distressed”: Written by popular award-winning poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay, this beautiful sonnet first appeared in the collection, The Harp Weaver and Other Poems. This collection was published back in 1923. The poet has beautifully presented the theme of her sexual passion through restraints and limitations. Herein lies the main reason for the popularity of this sonnet.
  • “I Being Born A Woman And Distressed” As a Representative of Lust: The sonnet presents the lustful expression of the passions and feelings of the poet. She, however, admits that as a woman, she is bound to feel these passions and express them when she is in the proximity of her lover. She even realizes the weight of his body upon her breast and is almost on the verge of having an orgasmic realization when she restrains herself and states that it seems that her blood is rebelling against her intellectual faculty. That is why she states that although she loves him yet, she does not feel that she would be talking to him in the future only because she feels this lust. This is not a sufficient reason for moving ahead with love and friendship.
  • Major Themes in “I Being Born A Woman And Distressed”: Lust, restraints, and love are three major thematic strands of this sonnet. The poet has beautifully shed light on the passion of lust. She is of the view that whenever her lover is close to her, she feels him on her. It is because of the rebellion of her blood against her desires. However, she has overcome this passion of rebellion. That is why she confesses that she loves her lover, but this rebellion is now under her control. And that it is not enough as a reason that she should continue loving him and talking to him in the future. Rather, she would exercise control over her passions and emotions.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in I Being Born A Woman And Distressed

Edna St Vincent Millay used various literary devices to beautify her poem and give it intended meanings. Some of the major literary devices are as follows.

  1. Alliteration: It means to use initial consonants in successive words. The sonnet shows the use of consonant sounds, such as /b/ in “being born” or /m/ in “me make” or /w/ in “when we.”
  2. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /i/ in “Am urged by your propinquity to find” and the sound of /o/ in “To bear your body’s weight upon my breast.”
  3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /n/ and /z/ in “By all the needs and notions of my kind” and the sound of /f/ and /s/ in “Your person fair, and feel a certain zest.”
  4. Enjambment: It means to roll over a verse to the next without a pause. The sonnet shows enjambment, such as;

Think not for this, however, the poor treason
Of my stout blood against my staggering brain,
I shall remember you with love, or season
My scorn with pity,—let me make it plain:

  1. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Edna St Vincent Millay used imagery in this poem, such as “Am urged by your propinquity to find”, “So subtly is the fume of life designed” and “To clarify the pulse and cloud the mind.”
  2. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used the metaphor of fume for his lust.
  3. Personification: It means to attribute human emotions to inanimate objects. The poet used the personification of treason and blood as if they were two persons.
  4. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as needs, propinquity, weight, breast, and body to express her lustful passions.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in I Being Born A Woman And Distressed

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of formal, poetic, and melodic diction.
  2. End Rhyme: It means to use verses having matching end words. Edna St Vincent Millay shows the use of end rhymes, such as distressed/zest and kind/find.
  3. Rhyme Scheme: This sonnet shows the rhyme scheme of ABBACDDC in its octave and EFEFEE in its sestet.
  4. Sonnet: This is a fourteen-lined poem. This poem is a sonnet.
  5. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are two stanzas, with each in a sonnet; the first octave comprises eight verses, and the second sestet comprises six verses, as shown in Rhyme Scheme.
  6. Tone: It means the voice of the text. The sonnet shows a confusing, lustful, and decisive tone at different places.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote when talking about restraints in love.

I shall remember you with love, or season
My scorn with pity,—let me make it plain:
I find this frenzy insufficient reason
For conversation when we meet again.

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