Sonnet+XLIII

Millay was highly influenced in her writing style by both William Shakespeare and John Milton. This poem, along with many others are assumed to be the personal narrative of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Although both figures are males, Millay proves through her sonnets that the same topics (love, lust, life experience and religion) can be broached with male and female subjects in mind. This poem resembles the Petrarchan sonnet, containing an **octave** and **sestet.**