A Wholesome Glimpse into Memories of Past Lovers: "Once More into My Arid Days Like Dew" and "I Think I Should Have Loved You Presently" Marine Bruno College

Edna St. Vincent Millay centers her poems “Once More into My Arid Days Like Dew” and “I Think I Should Have Loved You Presently” around memories of past lovers, yet they have very different themes and focuses that, when put together, give a wholesome message about the different types of memories and lovers. “Once More Into” uses imagery and a sad tone to explain the way painful memories about long-term lovers can affect us by bringing fleeting joy, only to leave us with the realization that those moments are gone; meanwhile, “I Think I Should” has a nonchalant tone while explaining that some memories of fleeting moments might make us regret the way we acted with ephemeral loves, but that they cannot be changed.

“Once More Into” reveals that recurrent memories of a past lover make her feel like they are there, just for a fleeting moment, but that as she realizes they are long gone, those memories only bring her pain and sadness. The first line, “Once more into my arid days like dew” (1) emphasizes that these memories come repetitively, if not daily, like dew, yet they are memories of something that could never happen now, as seen when Millay compares them to “wind from an oasis, or the sound /of cold sweet water bubbling...