What is the tone of First Fig by Edna St Vincent Millay?

Answer 1

My candle burns at both ends;

It will not last the night;

But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--

It gives a lovely light!

Edna St. Vincent Millay's poem First Fig is playful and defiant - even cheeky would not be too strong a word for its tone.

The 1920's saw the new century's first wave of hedonism. The horrors of the first World War, and then the Spanish 'Flu persuaded many young people (especially in the USA) to live for the moment without a thought for tomorrow (between 1914 and 1921 many young people had discovered that tomorrow never comes). The amorality of this period scandalised the forces of conservatism in contemporary society.

A useful poem to compare with this one is a similarly short piece from the same period, credited to Eric Gill in England:

"If the skirts get any shorter,"

Said the Flapper, with a sob,

"There'll be two more cheeks to powder,

And one more place to bob."

Edna St. Vincent Millay gleefully identified herself with the modern sensualism, establishing herself as a spokeswoman for the new woman, with her cults of freelove, financial independence, and smoking. The gambit won Millay a quick and easy notoriety.

Later in her career Millay became an altogether more serious sort of poet - she was one of the first public intellectuals to criticise the USA's early appeasement of the Nazi régime. But sadly, her reputation as a good-time girl stayed with her - and few people took her seriously.

Answer 2

The tone of "First Fig" by Edna St. Vincent Millay can be described as defiant and rebellious. The speaker in the poem challenges conventional norms and embraces a hedonistic lifestyle, advocating for living fully in the present without concern for the consequences.