Karyna Mitchell

English 123

Professor James Wilson

May 10, 2018

Moving On

Unfortunately in the United States of America there is a ginormous issue of sexual abuse,

most commonly rape of women. According to ​Abuse of Women: Causes, Consequences, and

prevention ​the “mistreatment of women solely depends on the status of the woman in the

society.” Unfortunately in America it is often assumed that through how a women dresses, how

she behaves, or how she presents herself whether or not she “is being asked for it.” This means

that a woman asks to be raped because of certain traits or her self expression. In many instances

following rape the women are victimized, and put at fault. This forces the women to feel at

blame for the men’s actions and cause issues further in the woman, or girls future. For the

victimized women often times they may not be strong enough or are scared of accepting or

wanting to move on from their purity. On top of that it is not always themselves holding them

back, but the manipulation of the abuser making it seem as though they are not to blame. In Edna

St. Vincent Millay’s poem “I will Put Chaos Into Fourteen lines” through analysis of tone,

imagery, and situation she proves that victims of sexual abuse fight back through revenge and

forgiveness.

The audience is not noticeably clear. But it does not seem to be specific to an individual,

and rather to a broader group. It is shown to be this way because it does not have direct dialogue
with any one person. Although the audience is unclear through analysis of language it can be

assumed that the poem is directed to teens or older. The speaker is difficult to figure out in this

poem, but a reader may be lead to believe that it is most likely not the writer of the poem. Again

even though not mentioned the speaker is most believed to be female since she wants revenge of

the man. The tone of the poem when first read is proud, achieved, and hopeful. Where as the

second time around with analysis it is quite the opposite; confused, trapped, and innocent. When

a reader glances at it it seems as though the speaker has their life together and the chaos is under

control. But after reading a second time I was lead to believe that the speaker was unsure of how

to escape and feel in control of themself. In my analysis I believe the speaker is female because

of certain patterns and choice of language.

Through literary features the writer provides readers with images of her reality. To

describe the memory she will forever have of him she says, “I will hold his essence and

amorphous shape”(line 7). To exaggerate her opinion of the man’s feeling she using hyperbole

explaining, “ if he be lucky; let him twist, and ape/Flood, fire and demon (lines 3-4). The girl

could care less about the man feeling like he can not escape from the consequence from what he

had done to her. To focus provide ideas on her perspective of the man she uses personification

“Past are the hours, the years, of our duress” (line 9). Although the man was a monster to her

previously she is in hope to gain control over herself once again, and forget about her past. The

women uses her strength to prove to herself that although this man took control over her life he is

facing a consequence in result, and now she has the power. This helps her give herself more hope

for her future.

 The speaker seems to be telling her story of being a victim of rape or sexual abuse as a

child or young adult. The sonnet began with an ABBA rhyme pattern which described her story.

From there the poem transitioned into a CDCD rhythmic pattern for her reflection of the

situation. The first pattern seems to help intensify the situation seeing almost less consistent, but

put together. Which is similar to how the lady feels, she is emotional about her past but hopes to

get it together and move past. The second pattern with the reflection seems almost a quicker pace

as if she wants her experience to be completely forgotten. The words such as “confines” (line 5),

“pious rape” (line 6), “confess” (line 13), and “adroit” (line 4) is what led me to believe she was

a victim. The man had been arrested and placed in jail (confines) for his actions of the

unforgetful (pious) rape. The girl is willing to not force him to confess, which is often associated

with crime and she is even wanting to forgive. The last thing that provided me evidence for why

it was sexual abuse was the description of his “adroit designs” (line 4). The meaning of the word

adroit is the use of the hand and mind, this correlates to sexual abuse because abuser often begin

by manipulating the victims mind, and then using their hand for the abuse. She further explains

her reflection as “I have him” (line 11) this statement being placed in the poem shows the

significance of her having control of him now. The girl now has power of “winning”over him

whether or not he confesses or not.

Using elements of poetry the writer is able to show that through explaining or writing

about one’s experiences they can then reflect, and move past it. Unfortunately when it comes to

sexual abuse many people have to go through treatments, sometimes can not feel at blame.

Fortunately for this girl she was able to forgive the abuser, reflect, and move past it. Sadly men

which were not raised well believe they must “prove or reaffirm their masculinity” (Abuse Of
Women). The reasoning behind the abuse of the woman in the story is undetermined, but it can

be guessed that the man was not raised well and needed to prove himself. Many times woman

struggle to forgive men for their mistakes especially when it is to this extent. Yet rom this

reading the speaker is a strong person to be able to move past her experience and have

acceptance. The girl does not necessarily herself want to physically revengeance against the

abuser. I believe she feels as though him being forced to confess and suffering from the

consequences is her revenge, and her moving past is being able to forgive the abuser.
Mays, Kelly J.. The Norton Introduction to Literature. ​I will Put Chaos into Fourteen Lines​.

Portable 12th ed. New York: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2014. Print.

Saha, Amal Krishna and Arunava Saha. "Abuse of Women: Causes, Consequences &

Prevention- a Survey of College Going Youth." Indian Journal of Industrial Relations,

vol. 52, no. 4, Apr. 2017, pp. 621-633. EBSCOhost,

0-search.ebscohost.com.library.4cd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=12381960

7&site=eds-live.