Edna St. Vincent Millay: "On Hearing A Symphony by Beethoven"

Aim:  What aspects of the sonnet tradition is the poet following?

Have you ever listened to a symphony by Beethoven?  Click on his picture below [ http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beethoven_symphonies.html] and listen to the downloads available there.

Procedure:
Who is the poet addressing in the opening line?  Why is this apostrophe important to understanding the emotion of the poem?
What types of sentences does the poet use? ("Do not ease…/Reject me not").  How do these imperatives add to the tone of the opening?

How does the poem build?  Does the poet rely upon an octave and a sestet, or does she build by quatrains and a final couplet? 

Do you think that the influence of Beethoven on the poet is a simple us of hyperbole or is there any thing in the poet's biography < http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=161> that might indicate that she was especially influenced by music or other forms of art?

What images are an important part of the sestet?  What uses of diction in the poem add to the grandeur of the poem?

Web activity:
Find some music that you like on the web.  You might try Napster < http://www.napster.com/nan.html> if it has not been shut down yet.  You can also try Lycos Downloads.  If not, pop in a disc into your computer.  With the headphones on, listen carefully to a piece and write a short sonnet to the piece.  Be sure to speak directly to the music.  Free write while the piece is playing.  After you have your ideas down, go back and revise your writing by limiting your ideas to 14 lines.  Try not to concern yourself with rhyme unless you feel you won't let it compromise your writing.