The+Mill

= "The Mill" (Chapter 2, page 591) = by: Edwin Arlington Robinson

The same as ever to the sight.
Edwin Arlington Robinson December 22, 1869 - April 6, 1935

Historical Background:
= Biography: =
 * Written in the 1920's
 * Technological advancements with mass production and machinery
 * No need for millers

TIME Analysis =Theme:= Imagery: Meter: Emotion:
 * He was born in Alna, Maine.
 * He attended Harvard College, but two years later he ended his studies and returned home due to the panic of 1893.
 * Robinson continued to write poetry until he died of cancer on April 6th in 1935.
 * How industrialization effected the economy
 * Suicide of the Miller and his Wife
 * "And what was hanging from a beam" (15) " Would not have heeded where she went" (16)
 * This shows how the miller's wife found him dead in the mill and it wasn't what she was expecting to see.
 * "That one way of the few there were" (19) "Would hide her and would leave no mark" (20)
 * This shows how the miller's wife after finding her husband knew at some point that she wouldn't be able to live without him.
 * Disappointment in one's self
 * "There are no millers any more" (5)
 * The miller feels useless because he is not needed anymore since his mill is going out of business. He is disappointed in himself because he will not be able to support his family. It also shows how the lower class people must feel since they will have no work.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%; line-height: 23.3999996185303px;">Simile
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Black water, "like starry velvet in the night" (22)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">This compares the water to the night sky.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Hyperbole
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">"There are no millers any more" (5)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">This is an over exaggeration because the miller's are still alive they just need to find a new form of work to support their families.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Form
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Three stanzas
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Structure
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Three octets
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Meter
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Four foot iambic
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">no stressed / unstressed pattern
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Rhyme Scheme
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">ABABCDCD for every stanza
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Tone
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">"The miller's wife had waited long" (1)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">The poem starts off with a depressing tone because she is waiting for her husband to return home.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">"The same as ever to the sight" (24)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">This shows how it starts and ends with a depressing tone.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Mood
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">"Sick with a fear that had no form" (9)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">This starts the second stanza off with a ill mood almost like the miller's wife is sick to her stomach because she has no clue where her husband is.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">"And in the mill there was a warm" (11) "And mealy fragrance of the past" (12)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">This changes the mood to a sweeter time when the miller's wife remembers having in the mill.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 150%;">Diction
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">"The tea was cold, the fire was dead" (2)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">This phrase literally means that the tea is cold and the fire isn't burning anymore, but it represents how long the miller's wife had been waiting for him.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 160%;">Connotation
 * "There are no millers any more" (5)
 * This means that the millers are going out of business and will have to find a new form of work. All the lower class people had to adapt to change after living their life a certain way for all this time.