Analysis Of Love Is Not All

“Love is not all” by Edna Millay, discusses the illogical aspects of love and how people yearn for it, even though it is not necessary for survival. The mixed poetry structure displays the illogical nature of love, as Millay employs the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean Sonnet with 14 lines of rhymed iambic pentameter, but also uses the structure of a Petrarchan Sonnet with the first octet offering a situation and the following sestet providing a resolution. The first octet presents Millay’s opinion on how love is unnecessary for survival and yet people are committing suicide for lack of love. Her argument is logical and uses the repetition of “not” and “nor” to prove her point over and over again, as well as a polysyndeton in line 4 with “and