Millays 'time does not bring relief' Flashcards
What is Millays ‘time does not bring relief you all have lied’ centered around?
‘Time does not bring relief; you all have lied’ is centred around an emotionally damaged woman, seeking relief from heartbreak.
In this piece, Millay uses the second half of the poem to outline why her speaker’s emotions have made it hard for her to function in the world. The heartbroken speaker does her best to find a place where she can get some relief. This proves to be impossible though as the memories of her ex-lover are everywhere. They are more attached to her own being than they are to a physical location.
How is Millays time does not bring relief you all have lied’ structured for effect?
The poem is structured in the common form of a Petrarchan sonnet + iambic pentameter.
The poem begins with this speaker chastising her listeners for lying to her. They told her that any pain she feels, on account of a lost lover, would fade away in time.
She is angry because this has not come close to happening. One can assume that a great deal of time has passed, and the speaker’s emotions are just as strong as they were when the hurt was fresh.
The speaker is aware that time is passing around her, but it doesn’t touch her inner world. The snow might be melting on the mountains and the leaves being turned into smoke on the road, but she is the same as always.
The final lines describe how these emotions have impacted her. Now, no matter where she goes, even if its somewhere he never was, she is “stricken” with thoughts of him. He haunts her heart and mind, in every setting and situation.
