Rhyme- Hans Stromberg

“Time does not bring relief; you all have lied”

By:  Edna St. Vincent Millay 

 

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied   A

Who told me time would ease me of my pain!   B

I miss him in the weeping of the rain;  B

I want him at the shrinking of the tide; A

The old snows melt from every mountain-side,   A

And last year’s leaves are smoke in every lane;   B

But last year’s bitter loving must remain B

Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.   A

There are a hundred places where I fear   C

To go,—so with his memory they brim.  D

And entering with relief some quiet place   E

Where never fell his foot or shone his face   E

I say, “There is no memory of him here!”   C

And so stand stricken, so remembering him. D

 

Millay, Edna St. Vincent. " Time Does Not Bring Relief." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.

 

In “Time Does Not Bring Relief” Millay uses ABBA rhyme scheme. Millay discusses the loss of what is most likely a past lover. Millay uses true rhyme throughout the poem in instances such as “pain” and “rain” to connect the rhyming words. Also, the use of imagery shows just how regretful and painful the author feels about their past lover. The tone of sorrowful and regretful is shown throughout the poem and is emphasized in the last two lines. Everywhere Millay goes that she went with her lover, all she can remember is his face. The rhyme scheme displays a beautifully rhythmic poem that captures the loss of the past lover.