Renascence

All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked another way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I’d started from;
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.

Over these things I could not see;
These were the things that bounded me;
And I could touch them with my hand,
Almost, I thought, from where I stand.
And all at once things seemed so small
My breath came short, and scarce at all.

But, sure, the sky is big, I said;
Miles and miles above my head;
So here upon my back I’ll lie
And look my fill into the sky.
And so I looked, and, after all,
The sky was not so very tall.
The sky, I said, must somewhere stop,
And—sure enough!—I see the top!
The sky, I thought, is not so grand;
I most could touch it with my hand!
And reaching up my hand to try,
I screamed to feel it touch the sky.

I screamed, and—lo!—Infinity
Came down and settled over me;
Forced back my scream into my chest,
Bent back my arm upon my breast,
And, pressing of the Undefined
The definition on my mind,
Held up before my eyes a glass
Through which my shrinking sight did pass
Until it seemed I must behold
Immensity made manifold;
Whispered to me a word whose sound
Deafened the air for worlds around,
And brought unmuffled to my ears
The gossiping of friendly spheres,
The creaking of the tented sky,
The ticking of Eternity.

I saw and heard, and knew at last
The How and Why of all things, past,
And present, and forevermore.
The Universe, cleft to the core,
Lay open to my probing sense
That, sickening, I would fain pluck thence
But could not,—nay! But needs must suck
At the great wound, and could not pluck
My lips away till I had drawn
All venom out.—Ah, fearful pawn!
For my omniscience paid I toll
In infinite remorse of soul.

All sin was of my sinning, all
Atoning mine, and mine the gall
Of all regret. Mine was the weight
Of every brooded wrong, the hate
That stood behind each envious thrust,
Mine every greed, mine every lust.

And all the while for every grief,
Each suffering, I craved relief
With individual desire,—
Craved all in vain! And felt fierce fire
About a thousand people crawl;
Perished with each,—then mourned for all!

A man was starving in Capri;
He moved his eyes and looked at me;
I felt his gaze, I heard his moan,
And knew his hunger as my own.
I saw at sea a great fog bank
Between two ships that struck and sank;
A thousand screams the heavens smote;
And every scream tore through my throat.

No hurt I did not feel, no death
That was not mine; mine each last breath
That, crying, met an answering cry
From the compassion that was I.
All suffering mine, and mine its rod;
Mine, pity like the pity of God.

Ah, awful weight! Infinity
Pressed down upon the finite Me!
My anguished spirit, like a bird,
Beating against my lips I heard;
Yet lay the weight so close about
There was no room for it without.
And so beneath the weight lay I
And suffered death, but could not die.

Long had I lain thus, craving death,
When quietly the earth beneath
Gave way, and inch by inch, so great
At last had grown the crushing weight,
Into the earth I sank till I
Full six feet under ground did lie,
And sank no more,—there is no weight
Can follow here, however great.
From off my breast I felt it roll,
And as it went my tortured soul
Burst forth and fled in such a gust
That all about me swirled the dust.

Deep in the earth I rested now;
Cool is its hand upon the brow
And soft its breast beneath the head
Of one who is so gladly dead.
And all at once, and over all
The pitying rain began to fall;
I lay and heard each pattering hoof
Upon my lowly, thatched roof,
And seemed to love the sound far more
Than ever I had done before.
For rain it hath a friendly sound
To one who’s six feet underground;
And scarce the friendly voice or face:
A grave is such a quiet place.

The rain, I said, is kind to come
And speak to me in my new home.
I would I were alive again
To kiss the fingers of the rain,
To drink into my eyes the shine
Of every slanting silver line,
To catch the freshened, fragrant breeze
From drenched and dripping apple-trees.
For soon the shower will be done,
And then the broad face of the sun
Will laugh above the rain-soaked earth
Until the world with answering mirth
Shakes joyously, and each round drop
Rolls, twinkling, from its grass-blade top.

How can I bear it; buried here,
While overhead the sky grows clear
And blue again after the storm?
O, multi-colored, multiform,
Beloved beauty over me,
That I shall never, never see
Again! Spring-silver, autumn-gold,
That I shall never more behold!
Sleeping your myriad magics through,
Close-sepulchred away from you!
O God, I cried, give me new birth,
And put me back upon the earth!
Upset each cloud’s gigantic gourd
And let the heavy rain, down-poured
In one big torrent, set me free,
Washing my grave away from me!

I ceased; and through the breathless hush
That answered me, the far-off rush
Of herald wings came whispering
Like music down the vibrant string
Of my ascending prayer, and—crash!
Before the wild wind’s whistling lash
The startled storm-clouds reared on high
And plunged in terror down the sky,
And the big rain in one black wave
Fell from the sky and struck my grave.

I know not how such things can be;
I only know there came to me
A fragrance such as never clings
To aught save happy living things;
A sound as of some joyous elf
Singing sweet songs to please himself,
And, through and over everything,
A sense of glad awakening.
The grass, a-tiptoe at my ear,
Whispering to me I could hear;
I felt the rain’s cool finger-tips
Brushed tenderly across my lips,
Laid gently on my sealed sight,
And all at once the heavy night
Fell from my eyes and I could see,—
A drenched and dripping apple-tree,
A last long line of silver rain,
A sky grown clear and blue again.
And as I looked a quickening gust
Of wind blew up to me and thrust
Into my face a miracle
Of orchard-breath, and with the smell,—
I know not how such things can be!—
I breathed my soul back into me.

Ah! Up then from the ground sprang I
And hailed the earth with such a cry
As is not heard save from a man
Who has been dead, and lives again.
About the trees my arms I wound;

Like one gone mad I hugged the ground;
I raised my quivering arms on high;
I laughed and laughed into the sky,
Till at my throat a strangling sob
Caught fiercely, and a great heart‑throb
Sent instant tears into my eyes;
O God, I cried, no dark disguise
Can e’er hereafter hide from me
Thy radiant identity!

Thou canst not move across the grass
But my quick eyes will see Thee pass,
Nor speak, however silently,
But my hushed voice will answer Thee.
I know the path that tells Thy way
Through the cool eve of every day;
God, I can push the grass apart
And lay my finger on Thy heart!

The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky,—
No higher than the soul is high.
The heart can push the sea and land
Farther away on either hand;
The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.
But East and West will pinch the heart
That can not keep them pushed apart;
And he whose soul is flat—the sky
Will cave in on him by and by.

Unveiling “Renascence”: A Journey of the Soul

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Renascence” stands as a monumental achievement in American poetry, a profound exploration of human consciousness, suffering, death, and spiritual rebirth. This lengthy narrative poem, first published in 1918 when Millay was just 22, captivated readers with its lyrical intensity and philosophical depth, quickly establishing her as a significant poetic voice. The poem’s title itself, “Renascence,” meaning rebirth or revival, perfectly encapsulates the transformative journey undertaken by its speaker.

The Essence of “Renascence”: A Brief Overview

At its core, “Renascence” chronicles a speaker’s extraordinary spiritual odyssey. The journey begins with a feeling of confinement within the physical world, leading to an attempt to transcend these limits by reaching for the sky. This act unexpectedly plunges the speaker into an overwhelming experience of universal consciousness, where all suffering and joy become intensely personal. The immense weight of this expanded awareness leads to a symbolic death and burial, a period of profound despair. However, from this nadir, a yearning for life and beauty sparks a miraculous rebirth, culminating in a heightened, almost divine, connection with the natural world and a profound understanding of the soul’s boundless capacity. The central idea revolves around the idea that true understanding and spiritual awakening often require confronting the vastness of existence and suffering, leading to a renewed appreciation for life and a deeper connection to the divine.

Noteworthy Insights into “Renascence”

  • Early Masterpiece: “Renascence” was written by Edna St. Vincent Millay at a remarkably young age, showcasing her precocious talent and philosophical maturity. Its publication cemented her reputation as a formidable poet.
  • Existential Depth: The poem delves into fundamental questions of existence, mortality, empathy, and the human spirit’s potential for transcendence, making it resonate with readers across generations.
  • Lyrical Power: Millay’s masterful command of language, rhythm, and imagery imbues the poem with a compelling musicality and emotional force that draws readers into the speaker’s intense experience.

Exploring the Depths: An Analysis of “Renascence”

The poem “Renascence” unfolds as a dramatic monologue, guiding the reader through a series of profound psychological and spiritual transformations. Each stage of the speaker’s journey is meticulously crafted through vivid imagery, evocative language, and a shifting emotional landscape.

The Confined World: Initial Perception

The poem opens with a seemingly simple observation of the natural world, yet immediately establishes a sense of limitation and boundedness. The speaker’s initial view is restricted:

All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked another way,
And saw three islands in a bay.

This repetition of limited sight, reinforced by tracing the horizon back to the starting point, emphasizes a narrow, circumscribed existence. The lines, “Over these things I could not see;
These were the things that bounded me,” explicitly state this feeling of physical and perhaps existential constraint. The simple, almost childlike diction and regular rhyme scheme in these early stanzas create a sense of calm, almost naive observation, which starkly contrasts with the dramatic shifts to come. The speaker’s breath shortens, indicating an unconscious discomfort with this smallness, a prelude to the yearning for expansion.

The Boundless Unveiled: Encountering Infinity

A pivotal moment occurs when the speaker attempts to defy these earthly bounds by looking upwards. Initially, the sky appears vast, but a playful attempt to “touch” it leads to a terrifying realization:

And reaching up my hand to try,
I screamed to feel it touch the sky.

This scream marks the abrupt transition from limited perception to an overwhelming encounter with “Infinity.” The poem employs powerful personification and metaphor to describe this experience. Infinity is not an abstract concept but a tangible, oppressive force:

I screamed, and—lo!—Infinity
Came down and settled over me;
Forced back my scream into my chest,
Bent back my arm upon my breast,
And, pressing of the Undefined
The definition on my mind,

Here, Infinity is personified as a physical entity that suppresses the speaker, forcing a new, profound understanding. The “glass” through which “shrinking sight did pass” is a metaphor for a new lens of perception, allowing the speaker to behold “Immensity made manifold.” The auditory imagery intensifies this experience, with “a word whose sound
Deafened the air for worlds around” and the “ticking of Eternity,” suggesting a cosmic awareness beyond human comprehension. The use of assonance in “shrinking sight” and alliteration in “Immensity made manifold” enhances the sonic texture, mirroring the vastness being described.

Bearing the Weight: Universal Empathy and Suffering

This expanded consciousness brings with it not only knowledge of “The How and Why of all things” but also an unbearable burden of universal suffering. The speaker becomes acutely aware of all pain, sin, and regret, internalizing it as their own:

All sin was of my sinning, all
Atoning mine, and mine the gall
Of all regret.

The poem uses vivid imagery of physical and emotional torment to convey this overwhelming empathy. The speaker feels the hunger of a man in Capri, the terror of sinking ships, and “every scream tore through my throat.” This profound identification with all suffering is likened to divine compassion:

No hurt I did not feel, no death
That was not mine; mine each last breath
That, crying, met an answering cry
From the compassion that was I.
All suffering mine, and mine its rod;
Mine, pity like the pity of God.

The repetition of “Mine” emphasizes the complete absorption of this universal pain. The “awful weight” of Infinity pressing down on the “finite Me” becomes a central metaphor for the human struggle to reconcile individual existence with cosmic awareness. The speaker’s spirit is described “like a bird,
Beating against my lips,” a simile that conveys a desperate struggle for release.

The Embrace of Earth: Death and Temporary Solace

The unbearable weight of universal suffering leads the speaker to a symbolic death and burial. The earth itself offers a strange form of solace, a release from the crushing burden:

Into the earth I sank till I
Full six feet under ground did lie,
And sank no more,—there is no weight
Can follow here, however great.

This descent into the grave is depicted as a welcome escape, a place where the tortured soul can finally find rest. The earth is personified as a comforting presence, with “Cool is its hand upon the brow
And soft its breast beneath the head
Of one who is so gladly dead.” The falling rain, initially a symbol of sorrow, transforms into a “friendly sound” to the one “six feet underground,” highlighting the profound shift in perspective that death brings. The grave, a symbol of finality, becomes a “quiet place,” offering a temporary respite from the world’s clamor.

A Cry for Renewal: The Call for Rebirth

Even in the quietude of the grave, the speaker’s spirit is stirred by the sounds and images of life above. The rain, once a comfort, now evokes a deep longing for the sensory experiences of the living world:

I would I were alive again
To kiss the fingers of the rain,
To drink into my eyes the shine
Of every slanting silver line,
To catch the freshened, fragrant breeze
From drenched and dripping apple-trees.

This passage is rich with sensory imagery, appealing to touch, sight, smell, and sound, emphasizing the beauty and vibrancy of life that the speaker now misses. The thought of the sun laughing “above the rain-soaked earth” and the world shaking “joyously” ignites an intense desire for “new birth.” The speaker’s prayer is a desperate plea to return to the earth, to be freed from the grave by a torrent of rain, symbolizing a cleansing and a new beginning.

The Miracle of Awakening: A New Vision

The prayer is answered with a miraculous, almost mystical, awakening. The “far-off rush
Of herald wings” and the “vibrant string
Of my ascending prayer” suggest a divine intervention. The storm clouds respond, and the “big rain in one black wave
Fell from the sky and struck my grave.” This dramatic imagery signifies the breaking of the bonds of death. The speaker experiences a sensory reawakening:

A fragrance such as never clings
To aught save happy living things;
A sound as of some joyous elf
Singing sweet songs to please himself,
And, through and over everything,
A sense of glad awakening.

The “rain’s cool finger-tips
Brushed tenderly across my lips,
Laid gently on my sealed sight” are powerful tactile images of restoration. The “heavy night
Fell from my eyes and I could see,” marking the literal and metaphorical opening of perception. The “quickening gust
Of wind” and “miracle
Of orchard-breath” bring the soul back, completing the renascence.

Transcendent Connection: God in All Things

The rebirth is not merely a return to life but a profound spiritual transformation. The speaker emerges with a heightened awareness of the divine presence in every aspect of the natural world. The initial cry of one “who has been dead, and lives again” is followed by an ecstatic embrace of the earth and sky. The speaker now perceives God’s “radiant identity” everywhere:

Thou canst not move across the grass
But my quick eyes will see Thee pass,
Nor speak, however silently,
But my hushed voice will answer Thee.

This direct address to God, using archaic “Thou” and “Thee,” underscores the intimacy of this new connection. The speaker feels so attuned to the divine that they can “push the grass apart
And lay my finger on Thy heart!” This powerful metaphor illustrates a complete integration of the spiritual and the physical, a sense of God’s immanence in the world.

The Enduring Truth: The Soul’s Capacity

The poem concludes with a philosophical reflection on the boundless capacity of the human heart and soul. The world’s perceived limits are shown to be reflections of internal limitations:

The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky,—
No higher than the soul is high.

These lines employ powerful metaphors, equating the physical expanse of the world and sky with the emotional and spiritual breadth of the individual. The heart and soul are presented as capable of immense expansion, able to “push the sea and land
Farther away” and “split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.” The poem ends with a warning: those who fail to cultivate this inner vastness will find their world, and their spirit, constricted:

But East and West will pinch the heart
That can not keep them pushed apart;
And he whose soul is flat—the sky
Will cave in on him by and by.

This final message emphasizes the importance of an open, expansive spirit, suggesting that true freedom and connection come from within.

The Craft of “Renascence”: Literary and Poetic Devices

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Renascence” is a masterclass in poetic craftsmanship, employing a rich tapestry of literary and poetic devices to convey its profound themes and emotional intensity. Understanding these techniques unlocks deeper layers of meaning within the poem.

Literary Devices in “Renascence”

  • Allusion: The poem makes subtle allusions to spiritual and cosmic concepts, such as “Infinity,” “Eternity,” and “God,” evoking a sense of the vast and the eternal without adhering to specific religious dogma. The phrase “pity like the pity of God” alludes to a divine capacity for compassion, elevating the speaker’s empathy to a sacred level.
  • Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds creates musicality and connects ideas. For example, the long ‘i’ sound in “my breath came short, and scarce at all” mimics the speaker’s constricted breathing, while the ‘ee’ sound in “I screamed to feel it touch the sky” emphasizes the sharp, sudden shock.
  • Alliteration: The recurrence of initial consonant sounds adds a lyrical quality and emphasizes certain phrases. Examples include “shrinking sight” and “friendly spheres,” which draw attention to the descriptive power of the words.
  • Consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds within or at the end of words, often without a strict pattern, contributes to the poem’s sonic texture. For instance, the ‘t’ sound in “ticking of Eternity” creates a subtle, rhythmic effect, suggesting the relentless passage of time.
  • End Rhyme: While not strictly patterned throughout the entire poem, Millay frequently uses end rhymes, particularly in couplets or quatrains, to provide rhythmic cohesion and a sense of completeness to individual stanzas or ideas. The opening lines, “All I could see from where I stood
    Was three long mountains and a wood,” establish a simple, accessible rhythm.
  • Imagery: Millay’s poem is rich with vivid sensory imagery that allows readers to experience the speaker’s journey. Examples include visual images like “three long mountains and a wood,” auditory images such as “the gossiping of friendly spheres” and “the ticking of Eternity,” and tactile sensations like “the rain’s cool finger-tips
    Brushed tenderly across my lips.”
  • Metaphor: The poem uses powerful metaphors to convey abstract concepts. “Infinity
    Came down and settled over me” is a central metaphor, presenting an abstract idea as a physical, oppressive force. The “glass
    Through which my shrinking sight did pass” metaphorically represents a new, overwhelming mode of perception. The final lines, “The world stands out on either side
    No wider than the heart is wide,” use metaphor to equate external reality with internal capacity.
  • Personification: Natural elements and abstract concepts are frequently given human attributes, deepening the emotional texture. “Infinity
    Came down and settled over me” is a prime example. Later, “the pitying rain began to fall” and “the broad face of the sun
    Will laugh” imbue nature with sympathetic and joyous human qualities. The earth is also personified as having a “hand upon the brow” and a “breast beneath the head.”
  • Simile: Comparisons using “like” or “as” help to clarify abstract feelings or experiences. The speaker’s anguished spirit is described “like a bird,
    Beating against my lips,” vividly conveying desperation. The sound of awakening is “as of some joyous elf,” making the abstract feeling of gladness more concrete.
  • Symbolism: Objects and concepts in the poem carry deeper symbolic meanings. The “sky” and “earth” symbolize the spiritual and physical realms, respectively. The “grave” symbolizes death, isolation, and temporary respite. The “rain” undergoes a symbolic transformation, initially representing comfort in death, then becoming a symbol of cleansing and rebirth. The “apple-tree” symbolizes life, renewal, and the sensory beauty of the natural world.

Poetic Devices in “Renascence”