I Will Put Chaos Into Fourteen Lines

Readers of Millay’s poem become aware of the speaker in the very first line. The speaker is a first-person entity, as indicated by the first-person pronoun “I” (Line 1). The ungendered speaker relates what they “will” (Line 1) do, meaning it hasn’t been done yet and that the speaker is projecting their future intentions. The speaker wants to relegate “Chaos” into “fourteen lines” (Line 1). “Chaos” refers to “a state of utter confusion,” “a confused mass or mixture,” “a state of things in which chance is supreme,” and “the inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a complex natural system” (“Chaos.” Merriam-Webster, 2022). In addition to this contemporary understanding of chaos as a state of bewilderment and disorder, Greek mythology also viewed “Chaos” (Line 1) as “either the primeval emptiness of the universe before things came into being or the abyss of Tartarus, the underworld” (“Chaos.” Britannica, 2022). Since the reference to “Chaos” is capitalized in the first line of the poem as it is in Greek mythology, readers may assume that the meaning of “Chaos” the speaker intends is closer to this mythological allusion to primordial nothingness or a hellish pit. When the speaker states they want to put “Chaos” into “fourteen lines” (Line 1), they specifically refer to a sonnet structure since the sonnet form traditionally consists of 14 lines. The speaker wants to take something very disorderly and unstructured and confine it to something very structured and rigid. The goal of this confinement appears to be taming and managing the effects of “Chaos” (Line 1). The sonnet form symbolizes this means of containment.

The speaker’s intentions come to light in the following lines of the poem. The speaker desires to “keep” Chaos within this organized form. They specifically gender Chaos as masculine, referring to Chaos as “him” (Line 2). Given the patriarchal context in which Millay’s works were produced, it may be significant that the speaker villainizes a masculine entity here as opposed to feminizing Chaos (Line 1). The constrictions imposed on “Chaos” (Line 1) by the poetic form and meter will be so binding and confining that he will only be able to “escape / If he be lucky” (Lines 2-3). The speaker wants to make Chaos struggle and, it seems, suffer. They want to see Chaos “twist” within these constraints. They want to force Chaos to “ape” (Line 3) destruction, or imitate and mimic it closely but often clumsily. Chaos will take on the form of “Flood, fire, and demon” (Line 4) in an attempt to free himself or scare the speaker. The verb “ape” (Line 3) calls into question the ability of Chaos to cause any destruction at all since “aping” would imply simply imitating destruction rather than bringing about the “real thing.” Chaos’s attempts will be for naught. He will be so weakened by the order that confines him that he will be unable to execute any effective destruction.

The speaker’s tone almost seems to take on a mocking attitude, as they command “let him twist” (Line 3), knowing full well how useless these efforts will be. Continuing with this mocking tone, the speaker refers to these efforts of “Flood, fire, and demon” (Line 4) as “adroit designs” (Line 5). Something that is “adroit” (Line 4) is skillful, masterful, or adept. The speaker calls Chaos’s plans masterful at the end of one line and then completely negates and nullifies them in the next line. The speaker declares that all of Chaos’s plans will “strain to nothing” (Line 5) due to the “strict confines / Of this sweet order” (Lines 5-6). This “sweet order” the speaker refers to is the sonnet form that is capable of building a structure around Chaos and controlling him. “Order” (Line 6) is the antithesis to “Chaos (Line 1). Whereas “Chaos” (Line 1) is confusion, disorder, and unpredictability, “order” is “a situation in which everything is arranged in its correct place” (“Order.” Cambridge Dictionary, 2022). The speaker attempts to create this sense of order out of disorder.

The speaker attempts to impose this sense of “order” (Line 6) on Chaos through “pious rape” (Line 6). “Rape” carries clearly negative connotations, referring to “an outrageous violation,” “an act or instance of robbing or despoiling or carrying away a person by force,” or “unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against a person’s will or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent” (“Rape.” Merriam-Webster, 2022). This violation against “Chaos” through forcing him into submission is justified by the speaker as “pious,” or holy and reverent. If the speaker is “raping” Chaos and depriving Chaos of his freedom, then it must be justified if it is for good and upright reasons. The speaker has captured the “essence” (Line 7) of Chaos, his most innate nature and being, and controls his “amorphous shape” (Line 7). The phrasing “amorphous shape” is somewhat of an oxymoron, as “amorphous” can refer to something that is shapeless, formless, and structureless. This feat on the part of the speaker is even more impressive, as they are able to put structure around and confine something so vague and ambiguous. Their plan is to confine Chaos long enough until he “mingles and combines” with the positive influence of “Order” (Line 8). By introducing the structure of the sonnet to Chaos, some of the form and organization of this poetic shape will seep into and influence him and tame him. Chaos will absorb some of this “Order” (Line 8) and become ordered himself. This is the first instance “Order” is capitalized in the poem. Just as Greek mythology uses “Chaos” to refer to the pit of the underworld or the primordial state of the world, “Order” could refer to Phanes the “creator god” or to the Cosmos. The Cosmos was an ordered version of the universe in Greek mythology (“Nyx: Greek mythology.” Britannica, 2022). By referring to this capitalized version of “Order,” the speaker once again invokes this more ancient concept of the universe. The struggle between Chaos and Order is as old as time itself.

The first octave, or eight lines, of the poem describes this confinement Chaos undergoes while the remaining sestet describes the effects of this confinement. It is between the octave and sestet (in this particular sonnet structure) that the volta of the sonnet occurs. A volta is a shift or change in thought, literally meaning “turn” in Italian. This “turn” provides a shift from a firm declaration of confinement to retrospective reflection. With Chaos under control, the “hours” and “years of our duress” are finally over and “past” (Line 9). “Duress” (Line 9) refers to strife or turmoil, and with the usage of the plural personal pronoun “our,” the speaker implies that they are not the only one now free from Chaos. Multiple individuals have been reprieved and freed thanks to the speaker’s actions. Along with the strife that washes away with the removal of Chaos, the “arrogance” and “servitude” (Line 10) imposed by this monstrous force likewise vanishes once the speaker reigns victorious. The speaker quite clearly claims this victory when they declare, “I have him” (Line 11). The verb “has” implies possession and that the speaker holds power and authority over Chaos rather than the other way around. The hard stop at the end of this phrase makes the declaration even more final and firm. If the speaker’s statement of victory over Chaos isn’t enough to convince readers, they continue to demean Chaos’s power in the remaining lines. The speaker boldly claims that Chaos is “nothing” (Line 11) other than “something simple” and “not yet understood” (Line 12). By diminishing the complexity and power of Chaos, the speaker makes the entity and its potential destruction less threatening. Chaos is only scary initially because it is misunderstood, and humans are historically afraid of things they don’t know much about.

In the last two lines of the sonnet, the speaker takes their final stabs at Chaos. They assume a nearly nonchalant attitude toward Chaos, as though Chaos is no longer worthy of any of the speaker’s time and energy. The speaker declares that they will not “even force [Chaos] to confess” (Line 13). Here again is the masculinization of Chaos with the male pronoun “him” (Line 13). Chaos’s power and hold over the speaker has completely disintegrated by this point, and the speaker has achieved their goal of mastering this entity with order. They don’t even feel the need to extract a confession from Chaos because it no longer has any effect over them. In fact, even if Chaos were to address the speaker in any way, they wouldn’t even “answer” (Line 14). The hard stop used after “Or answer” in the final line once again creates a sense of authority, finality, and confidence. The speaker can waste no more time on Chaos’s destructive powers and influence. They will no longer look to the past or at what Chaos has done. Rather, the speaker becomes forward-thinking and optimistic, turning their thoughts to positive outcomes Chaos’s powers can be channeled toward. Now that Chaos is caught and tamed, the speaker will “make him good” (Line 14). They will reframe the narrative and claim control over something traditionally negative and debilitating.