Question

Love is Not All

Edna St. Vincent Millay


Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink

Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;

Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink

And rise and sink and rise and sink again;

Love can not fill the thickened lung with breath,

Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;

Yet many a man is making friends with death

Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.

It well may be that in a difficult hour,

Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,

Or nagged by want past resolution’s power,

I might be driven to sell your love for peace,

Or trade the memory of this night for food.

It well may be. I do not think I would.


In the first six lines of "Love Is Not All," the speaker says that love is not as important as food, water, shelter, breath, rescue from disaster, or medical treatment. What impact does this statement have?

Question 1 options:

Answer 1

Question 1 options:

It makes the speaker seem old-fashioned for not praising the beloved enough.

It makes the speaker sound as if she doesn't really love the person addressed.

It makes the speaker sound more realistic and believable rather than a romantic one

Answer:

It makes the speaker sound more realistic and believable rather than a romantic one

Step-by-step explanation:

According to the first six lines of the given poem, the poet's insistence that love is not as important as the basic needs of life which are food, water, clothing, etc, makes the poem more realistic and believable.

Unlike many poets, they place greater importance on love over realistic needs of life, however this poet shows that she is sensible and realistic rather than romantic