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Millay's Sonnet XXVIII from Fatal Interview is unique in that it portrays a relationship that is focused more on getting the most out of life in general than particularly on the love that exists in the relationship. The speaker (Edna St. Vincent Millay) is a woman, and she is not depicted in any way as the simple love object of her lover, nor does it appear vice-versa. The relationship is vibrant and alive, and the speaker definitely does not feel that she has ever been repressed or constrained by either the relationship or her lover. Although the relations seem to be extramarital, the speaker is not concerned about what observing people may think about it. In general, the focus of the two lovers is not on achieving a Shakespearian love that does not "alter when it alteration finds," but simply on enjoying the ride while they are together.

Traditionally, the speakers in the most notable sonnets are male. The masculine role that is usually portrayed by the speaker is one of a devoted lover who seeks to win over his lady by pledging his loyalty, fidelity, and by professing an eternal and unchanging love. The speaker of Shakespeare's 116 comes to mind here, who seeks to defy time and achieve a love that is borne out "even to the edge of doom." (line 12)

By contrast, in XXVIII Millay seeks only to enjoy the moment that she has with her love. When they are old, she hopes only to be able to say that they did not waste their time. She states, "This be our solace: that it was not said / When we were young and warm and in our prime, / Upon our coach we lay as lie the dead, / Sleeping away the unreturning time." (lines 5-8) She makes no mention of the depth or the duration of their love. She wishes only to avoid sleeping their lives away, as it were.

This provides a unique insight into the mind process of the modern woman poet. Millay is not concerned, as were the women of Shakespeare's time, with
finding a love relationship that is eternal in which she will be forever doted upon and admired. She is more concerned with having the freedom and the independence to live within the relationship as she wishes.

In terms of further comparison, it is also noteworthy that Millay writes this sonnet with the same form, meter, and rhyme scheme as Shakespeare's. Both XXVIII and 116 are written in iambic pentameter form with an ababcdcdefefgg rhyme scheme. But this is about the only thing that is remotely similar between the two sonnets. This suggests that Millay is making a particular

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