Conscientious Objector

“First Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1918)

This poem is the source for the idiom “burning the candle at both ends.” Millay’s first line reads “My candle burns at both ends” (Line 1). Unlike the long lines of “Conscientious Objector,” “First Fig” contains only four short lines. However, both poems place friends and enemies together. Millay writes, “But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends” (Line 3) in “First Fig,” which is echoed in Line 9 of “Conscientious Objector”: “I will not tell him the whereabouts of my friends nor of my enemies either.” “First Fig” is a poem about the youthful rebellion of which Millay was part in postwar Greenwich Village.

“Because I could not stop for Death—” by Emily Dickinson (1890)

This poem exemplifies the tradition of personifying Death, who is depicted as an anthropomorphic figure. Unlike “Conscientious Objector,” Dickinson’s Death is a kindly figure who needs no assistance. Death’s calm “Civility” (Line 8) is emphasized, and, rather than being insistent and hasty, this Death is slow and purposeful. In this way, violent deaths aided by humans in warfare contrast with natural deaths leading to a cool and calm graveyard. It is also notable that Dickinson’s work was published after her death, and became highly influential—especially in feminist and queer communities throughout the 20th century, which included the Greenwich scene and Millay.

“Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen (1917)

Wilfred Owen was a British soldier who composed the majority of his poetic works while fighting in the trenches of World War I. Many of his poems question nationalism—especially British nationalism as a motivating cause for warfare—with “Dulce et Decorum Est” most directly addressing the subject. Owen died a week before the end of WWI, and his poems were all posthumously published with re-publications in 1920 and 1931, where they found broad popularity—especially among pacifist and leftist art communities (including the Greenwich scene).