jazzing+music+blended

The Jazz Age was vehemently an innovation that marked a generation of modernity. The Jazz Age was heavily influenced by the social conditions of World War I and the Great Depression (Axelrod 571). Millay’s “Only Until This Cigarette is Ended” was published in 1920, which was during the same era that the social changes of America were becoming gloomy. Jazz introduced a new vernacular language that was emotional and utterly sensual. Millay’s work was governed mostly from her feelings and sensuality, so in this case, she was feeling a bit bluesy while recalling on a past love affair. This poem does illustrate a jazzy theme where the image of a cigarette is oblique. The smoke from the cigarette are the shadowy figures on the wall.