- Born
- Died
- Nickname
- Vincent
- Height5′ (1.52 m)
- Edna St. Vincent Millay was renowned for her traditional poetry and bohemian life, becoming one of the premier twentieth-century lyric poets. At the age of seven, Edna's parents separated, and she saw little of her father. Edna (who insisted on being called Vincent, even entering writing contests under that name) and her sisters were encouraged in their literary, musical and dramatic leanings by their mother. Millay's free-spirited childhood led to an unconventional adulthood, and inspired much of her creativity. In 1912, she entered her poem 'Renascence' into a poetry contest, winning fourth place and a scholarship to Vassar. Millay's first book of poetry was published in 1917 and well-received. Her next volume, 'A Few Figs from Thistles' in 1922, sparked attention and controversy with its feminist leanings. In 1923 she won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry and in the 1930s published sonnets that earned a lasting place as exemplars of the form. She later moved to the free-thinking and artistic borough of Greenwich Village. An acknowledged bisexual, her affections for women are sometimes evident in her poems and plays. She married Eugen Boissevain, who managed her career and was a great source of support. Their marriage was an "open" one, and Millay carried on several affairs, most notably with English actress 'Edith Wynne Matthison.' Infusing conventional forms with a fervent contemporary spirit, Edna later wrote several plays and an opera libretto. In later years she applied her art to the Allied war effort and other social causes. A heavy smoker, she succumbed to heart failure at the age of 58. Her upstate New York farmhouse, Steepletop, is now a National Historic Landmark.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Christine L. DeSimone
- SpouseEugen Boissevain(1923 - 1949) (his death)
- RelativesNorma Millay(Sibling)
- Named after St. Vincent de Paul.
- First woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry (1923 for "The Ballad of the Harp Weaver", "A Few Figs From Thistles", and other works).
- As a rookie schoolteacher, it was difficult for Bel Kaufman to get fully certified by a byzantine school bureaucracy. The examiners had her explain a sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and told her afterward she had given "a poor interpretation." Having been blocked once before because of a trace of a greenhorn accent, she refused to be stopped a second time. So she did what any true aspirant would have done: she wrote a letter to Ms. Millay and had her evaluate her interpretation.
"You gave a much better explanation of it than I myself should have," the poet wrote back, and the chastened examiners saved face by urging Ms. Kaufman to try for the license again. - Sister-in-law of Howard Irving Young.
- Was mentioned in an Allan Sherman song entitled "Oh Boy".
- On ambition: After the feet of beauty fly my own.
- On desire: So subtly is the fume of life designed to clarify the pulse and cloud the mind.
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