What Life Have i Kissed Away
In the poem “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, she expresses her regret about not truly finding who she is earlier in life because of her search to find self worth through affairs. By reading it through once you can notice the sad depressing mood the author brings to the poem.
Through many different affairs with men, the author expresses her struggles with remembering each man clearly, only to realize she has forgotten herself. The first line in the poem she asks a few different questions. “What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why”. Although the questions were clearly stated, a closer look reveals that, those were not the only questions going through the author’s mind. She could have also been thinking “who was i then?”, “who am i now?”, or even just trying to recall who she has shared physical intimacy with throughout the years. Another quote from the poem i thought showed her struggles with remembering past affairs is “ I have forgotten, and what arms lain, under my head till morning”. I thought this quote depicted a sense of loneliness. To me It seems that men were there for her own comfort but then ended up lying to her, leaving her to figure things out for herself.
The past seems to haunt Edna and remind her of the strong sense of regret she feels inside. As the poem progresses it sinks deeper and deeper into darkness. The third quote i took from the poem is “but the rain Is full of ghosts tonight that tap and sigh upon the glass and listen for reply”. In this quote the rain depicts a sense of her crying inside for a long lost hope for companionship. The ghosts can be a way of saying “past lovers” or affairs with another person. While she cries inside from past memories that haunt her, each seem to play a large role in self reflection. Although the memories haunt her they also put her in front of a mirror to make her see herself and the choices she once had made…