In the poem "love is not all" Edna St. Vincent Millay explores the idea that love is not everything but it is important. on to the necessities for survival in life. She further suggests that love comes with negative connotations and should not be given as much importance as survival. The first half of the poem deals with what love cannot do. Love is not a lifesaver, shelter, or a doctor. The second half is about the power that love has. Even though love is not tangible, is as important as something that is? Another question one can ask is whether love is necessary to survive?
             The symbol of food in this line connotes survival. The author uses this idea to emphasize that love is not as important as survival. She further explains that love cannot provide shelter by saying, "nor a roof against the rain"(L. 2). The word "rain" in this line implies uncontrollable circumstances that even love cannot protect against. This idea is seen again when Millay suggests that love in not like a "Floating spar to men that sink and rise and sink…"(L. ). The notion that love cannot provide a way out of the horrible ups and downs in life is reinforced. An example is that love cannot protect am person, with a high cholesterol level, from having a heart attack. In addition love cannot be your doctor and heal your "fractured bone(s)." "love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath." The author's main purpose of the first half of this poem is to show what love cannot provide.
             The second half however is about the power that love has and what it can do. The first instance where we see the power of love is in the idea that "man is making friends with death…for lack of love alone." In using death as an expression for depression, low self-esteem and frustration the author shows that even though a person's body is very much alive, love can destroy one's inner self-image. Although a literal interpretation of death can be draw
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