Homo called sapiens

I really liked the sonnet I read by Edna St. Vincent Millay, so I looked at more of her poetry and enjoyed this one. It is called Apostrophe to Man and can be found here.

It is completely different from [What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why], yet it is just as striking. In the poem, which was published in 1934, Millay addresses all of man kind, on the brink of war. She uses a sarcastic tone to get her point across. Though she literally tells the human race "expunge yourself, die out," that is not what she really wants. She is commenting on the fact that the world is literally working to destroy itself. We develop new and more powerful weapons and vie to "put death on the market." She does not see the sense in this and in a way is daring man to keep doing all these things and to see what will happen. The last line, "Homo called sapiens" is mocking. Sapiens roughly means "wise." With this she wonders, if we are so wise, then why do we do this to ourselves?

Millay also uses juxtaposition and contrast to add to the power of her poem. The best example of this is the phrase: "Convert again into putrescent matter drawing flies / The hopeful bodies of the young." The actions of mankind kill its own young and wastes the potential of its younger generations. The contrast between "the hopeful bodies" and the nameless, insignificant "putrescent matter" drives her message home.