Themes in Feast

Just as the meter and rhyme scheme create in the reader a felt experience of unsatisfied want, so too does the overall leanness of the poem. “Feast” is just three brief stanzas of spare diction, stripped of unnecessary adjectives and descriptions. Its form is a reflection of its own philosophy. It is also a vehicle for an experience of leanness and hunger in the reader, who likely expects a poem entitled “Feast” to deliver more.

Millay wrote “Feast” in iambic trimeter: three beats per line, with a fluctuating rhythm between unstressed and stressed syllables. The trimeter line is so much shorter than the classic pentameter line that it leaves the reader with a feeling of breathlessness. One arrives at the end of the line wanting and expecting more. That feeling of unsatisfied desire is the very theme of the poem.

The desire that this poem explores can be interpreted in multiple ways. Literally, the narrator is talking about drinking wine and eating fruit. However, metaphorically these images could represent ambition, sexual desire, and experience in general.