"I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed" by Edna St. Vincent Millay: Translation and Summary

Title: "I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed"
Author: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Written: 1923 C.E.

Poem in a nutshell: "Dude, it was a one-night stand--get over it!"
Themes: Societal Double Standards, Women's Equality

Edna St. Vincent Millay. Winner of Pulitzer Prize 1923.

Original Text

Modern English Translation

I, being born a woman and distressed By all the needs and notions of my kind, Am urged by your propinquity to find Your person fair, and feel a certain zest To bear your body's weight upon my breast: So subtly is the fume of life designed, To clarify the pulse and cloud the mind, And leave me once again undone, possessed. Think not for this, however, the poor treason Of my stout blood against my staggering brain, I shall remember you with love, or season My scorn with pity, -- let me make it plain: I find this frenzy insufficient reason For conversation when we meet again.

I, having been born a fragile and delicate woman, with all of the trivial wants and needs of my sex, am excited by your proximity and find you deeply attractive. I yearn to feel your naked body against mine: So subtle is the aura of sexual attraction that it quickens the heartbeat and clouds the mind with lust, leaving me in a state of confused passion. But do not think that this one time where my desires overpowered my better judgement that I will give into you again--either out of lust or pity. Let me be clear: the physical passion that I felt during our encounter is not reason enough to form any kind of relationship much less deal with you in the future.

Summary:

In the first line of the poem, the speaker tone is sarcastic. With an almost sardonic mirth, the speaker states that she is a woman by birth rather than choice and that she is also troubled. She is also playing up society's belief (at the time) of woman's fragility and triviality. In lines three and four, the reader learns that the speaker is distressed due to the fact that she is attracted to a man near her but she is expected by society to act "as a lady." 

Naturally, she has an urge to admire his features and experience a strong physical desire to have sex with him (lines 4-5). Her lust overpowers her better judgement, and, in a moment and weakness and lost inhibitions, she loses her self-control and makes love to the man (lines 6-8). Even though the woman's temptation triumphs over her rationality this time, the speakers says that the man has no reason to believe that she will ever give into him again; she does not love him (lines 9-12).

 In the last two lines, the speaker makes it clear that their passionate tryst was simply a one-night stand and not reason enough to engage in any kind of relationship thereafter.