Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Fans of Zelda, Nancy Milford's groundbreaking (and bestselling) biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald's tortured wife and muse, have been waiting impatiently since 1970 for Milford's promised follow-up about poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950). It's finally here, and they will not be disappointed. Milford's vivid narrative limns an electric personality with psychological acuity while capturing the freewheeling atmosphere of America in the turbulent years following World War I. After "Renascence" was published (when she was only 20) and she moved to Greenwich Village, Millay was the queen of bohemia, taking lovers with zest and voicing the reckless gaiety of a generation in her famous lyric, "My candle burns at both ends; / It will not last the night; / But, ah, my foes, and, oh, my friends-- / It gives a lovely light." With her flame-red hair, milk-white skin, and a voice that thrilled audiences (making her poetry readings a welcome source of income), Millay was the archetypal "new woman": powerful, passionate, and not to be ignored. But Milford makes it clear that her first loyalty was to her mother and sisters, and her deepest commitment to her writing. This juicy chronicle has famous names aplenty--critic Edmund Wilson and Masses editor Floyd Dell were among the men devastated by her refusal to be faithful--and lots of dissipation: Millay drank heavily and became addicted to morphine. It also takes a perceptive look at how an artist draws material from her life and at the strategies she uses to protect the wellsprings of creativity. Brief passages interspersed throughout delineating Milford's interactions with Norma Millay, the poet's younger sister and literary executor, might have been self-indulgent and self-aggrandizing; instead they offer intriguing snapshots of the complex process by which biography is made. The resulting book is a tour de force, and wildly entertaining as well. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
Thomas Hardy once said that America had two great attractions: the skyscraper and the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. The most famous poet of the Jazz Age, Millay captivated the nation: She smoked in public, took many lovers (men and women, single and married), flouted convention sensationally, and became the embodiment of the New Woman.
Thirty years after her landmark biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, Nancy Milford returns with an iconic portrait of this passionate, fearless woman who obsessed America even as she tormented herself. Chosen by USA Today as one of the top ten books of the year, Savage Beauty is a triumph in the art of biography. Millay was an American original—one of those rare characters, like Sylvia Plath and Ernest Hemingway, whose lives were even more dramatic than their art.
Download Description
Thirty years after the smashing success of Zelda, Milford returns with a stunning second act. Savage Beauty is the portrait of Edna St. Vincent Millay, a passionate, fearless woman who obsessed America even as she tormented herself.
Customer Reviews:
Too heavy on the research to be a good read.......2007-08-04
I was looking forward to this book, having enjoyed Milford's "Zelda" very much. But boy, you have to plow your way through seemingly every letter Millay ever wrote or received. Some details are relentlessly spelled out while other, more salient points don't get the attention they deserve. (What physical or mental problems were really at the root of her most serious breakdown? When, exactly, and why did her morphine addiction take root?) And I don't know what anyone else thought about it, but I felt Milford paid far, far too much attention to Millay's anatomy. It was off-putting to me. I also find it annoying when photographs are described in detail in the text but do not appear in the picture sections.
Edna St. Vincent Millay's life certainly mirrored that of her most famous poem, "First Fig"; she did burn the candle at both ends. Her personal life was largely a sad one, but she brought a lot of her personal woes upon herself. Better to read the poems. . . they remain fresh as ever, revealing and possessed of a remarkable clarity and gift for the turn of phrase.
Enlightening.......2007-01-10
Surprised to find out she had a very active and interesting life. Would not know it by the writings she composed.
I loved this book........2006-09-29
I picked this book up for the first time in a summer rental house. I couldn't put it down and I had to run out and buy my own copy when I got home. I was not familiar with Millay before reading this book, so I cannot compare it to the million other opinions of her, but as a narrative on its own I have been mesmerized. I think this is an extremely well written biography that captures the essence of the relationships we nuture and cherish. Everytime I pick it up again I slip effortlessly into a different place in time when one could simply be an artist, a genius, and be celebrated. The descriptions are vivid and the narrative is strong and engaging. It's simply a well written book and I loved it.
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Subject of Nancy Milford (oh, and she was a poet, too).......2006-08-04
In this biography, Milford seems to be an historian first and a writer second. Or, perhaps, a prima donna first, an historian second, and then a writer. There is nothing wrong with either order unless one's prerogative in reading happens to be pleasure. Then, dear reader, it seems you have been "punk'd."
While I reveled in the details of Millay's life there were a few I wish Milford would have omitted: the "dramatic natural beauty" of the New England where Millay grew up; the lack of transition between paragraphs; and, perhaps the most aggravating, Milford herself! While the author has undoubtedly waded through a great deal of documents and interviews, one feels she doesn't quite know what to do with them. Other reviewers have noted that Milford hasn't processed or analyzed much of the material, but simply dumps it on the reader to sort out. And I agree. Further, she parades Millay's surviving sister, Norma, about as a primary source. However, while Norma's reflections and recollections are used when convenient, she seems to serve largely as the vehicle for Milford to infiltrate her own subject's biography! Indeed, while Norma is portrayed as a loving and level-headed sister and human being in the text, the prologue paints her as fickle, selfish, and maniuplative while Milford is the one righteous and serene. Other scenes and dialogues involving Norma seem random until one realizes Milford is characterizing Norma or inserting herself (once, as the object of Norma's sexual advance. The vixen!) One is reminded of Boswell's "Life of Samuel Johnson" which scholars joke ought to be renamed, "Samuel Johnson, Friend of James Boswell." If Milford could get out of her own way, this would likely be a very fine read. Truthfully, I did not dislike it. Not entirely. I only wish it were friendlier to those of us not preparing for assignments on great American poets. And an homage to Millay rather than to Milford.
Edna deserved better.......2006-05-13
I have always loved the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay and eagerly looked forward to reading Milford's book, as a matter of fact I was extremely happy to see the size and heft of the book thinking that Milford must have clearly explored all the facets of Millay's life. humpf
Milford was given access to a tremendous amount of Millay's papers/letters/journals/photos and even was able to interview Millay's sister, Norma. With the wealth of material at her hands about a truly fascinating, gifted, and tragic woman this biography should have been an insightful, mesmerizing page-turner. . . key words here are SHOULD HAVE BEEN!
Instead I was bored. Lots of facts. Lots and lots of long excerpts of letters to and from Millay - minus comments or analysis from Milford. No delving into Millay's philosophy on life and men. No exploring the depth of emotion in Millay's poems.
Oh, and another thing, the book provides photos but many of them are never addressed in the book. Now if the pic was just of Millay's face, ok, I don't need background BUT when a photo says "Recovering from her operation . . ." and the book never mentions an operation then we have a problem. And there were many problems. Yes, I know I sound cranky and this review may even seem disjointed but that is because I am so frustrated and angry over being cheated.
Millay deserves better. Readers deserve better.
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Poet, playwright, and translator Daniel Mark Epstein certainly has the right background to understand and evaluate poet, playwright, and translator Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)--though Millay didn't write biographies. Readers of Epstein's Sister Aimee and Nat King Cole will recognize the intense personal engagement the author brings to his task. He's not afraid to express an almost physical fascination for his subjects, which is especially appropriate for the flamboyant Millay, who insisted on the right to take as many lovers as she pleased and to write about them in some of the greatest erotic poetry in American verse. Epstein focuses on that poetry, deciphering the affairs that fueled it and elucidating the boldly iconoclastic, almost cynical acceptance of love's fleeting nature that informs it. (Of the last sonnet in A Few Figs from Thistles, with its notorious putdown, "I shall forget you presently, my dear / So make the most of this, your little day," he remarks: "For a woman, not yet thirty, to compose and market such a poem... was a scandal, an alarm, and a red flag to censors.") While the Edna St. Vincent Millay who emerges in Nancy Milford's Savage Beauty is indelibly shaped by her upbringing, particularly her relationship with her mother and sisters, Epstein's Millay is a self-created goddess of love and literature. It's fascinating to compare these two biographies, published nearly simultaneously and each with considerable merits. Milford's lengthy book, the product of three decades of research, is lavish with details and comprehensive in scope. Epstein's more selective work excels in cogent summaries and forcefully stated opinions. Either book will satisfy readers with an interest in Millay or American literature; really passionate aficionados of the art of biography will want to read both. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
Using letters, diaries, and journals of the poet and her lovers that have only recently become available, Daniel Mark Epstein tells the astonishing story of the life, dedicated to art and love, that inspired the sublime lyrics of Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Customer Reviews:
A Poet's Life Unfurled.......2006-03-10
It's not easy being a poet, and Daniel Mark Epstein's biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay in What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, confirms this. From love affairs with men and women to excessive drinking, this book has it all.
However, there were some things in the book that could have been elaborated on. For example, Epstein had my attention from the very first chapters about Millay's young life as a poet. He mentions how she would conduct candlelight seances in her rooms at night, and would use them as inspiration to write her poetry. He also mentions how close she was with her mother, Cora. I think Epstein should have gone into further detail on both Millay's life as a young poet, and her relationship to her mother. Instead, the book focuses on her love affairs with many men (and a few with some of the women she met at Vassar), as well as the ups and downs she experienced within these relationships and within her life as a poet. Now granted, the book might not be successful if it tried to incorporate the points I would have liked to have seen, but I think especially concerning Millay's feelings of great love for her mother, it might make the book a stronger one.
What I admired about the book was the feeling I got of Epstein's concern as a present-day writer looking into Millay's steady decline as poet throughout. As a reader, I sensed a certain kind of admiration and esteem for her in the tone of the book, especially at the start of her career as a writer. I was saddened at the end of the book to learn that Millay died from an intake of too much alcohol as well as a fall from her steps. Epstein's concern at the end, too, only strengthened my view that poets do not lead the kinds of high-roller lives that people would like to believe they do.
When I finished the book, I found myself wanting to know more of the sensitive and acclaimed poet. I wanted to know what drew her so much to alcohol and morphine that she was so wont to abuse. I wanted to know why exactly her husband Eugen's reasoning was in briefly trying morphine in an attempt to make her realize that morphine was indeed not the solution to her problems. I wanted to know what Millay's reasoning was in having extra-marital affairs with other men while being married to Eugen. And I wanted to know more about Millay's sisters; why Kathleen went mad, and why she seemed to stay more in touch with her other sister, Norma, more than Kathleen. I wanted more answers than I got from reading this book.
In short, while this book is interesting and well-organized, it does not offer a complete look into Millay's psyche and way of perceiving her world. It is most probably a book that would support research done on the poet's life, rather than being a book that can stand on its own. If you want to read a book about Millay's love affairs, read this book. If you want to read about her life as a whole, look elsewhere.
The best so far.......2006-02-21
This is simply a great biography.
Apparently Epstein was able to gain access to a vast Library of Congress collection of documents on Millay that won't be released to the public until 2010. And he seems to have done an unusually good job of sorting through all this information and putting it in order.
Perhaps it's due to Epstein being a poet himself, but he's able to give a wonderfully sensitive and intelligent account of Millay's life. He's done lots of detective work, and it seems to all hold together.
It's an unbelievable story -- so American in some ways: the gilded age to ragtime to the Jazz Age, the World Wars, anti-war and women's rights, passion, poetry, Greenwich Village and the Left Bank, genius, narcissism, money, fame, sex, alcohol, drugs, a skyrocket ride from poverty to success to destruction.
And yet so un-American in its calm, well-behaved, almost English manner: no shooting, no fist-fights, no one calling the cops, a time when books of poetry sold 50,000 copies and folks jam-packed auditoriums to hear poetry readings -- think Bloomsbury secretly on meth and Virginia Woolf quietly dedicating herself to nymphomania.
Really a well-written book, and surely the best biography of Millay so far.
What Lips My Lips Have Kissed............2004-04-10
Mr. Epstein's passion for his subject was the first attractor for me upon reading this well written, intriguing biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay, specifically focusing on her very tumultuous love life and the poetry which was birthed due to her romantic and [physical relations].
The prose reads like Mr. Epstein has fallen in love with Edna just as the many men in her path fell in love with her.
I also found the diversions which came later (like the horse Chaladon) and her well known descent into alcoholism and drug addiction were very compelling to dive into: I would have appreciated more of these times, although the limited documentation available would explain why there isn't more information here.
This book does its job well: makes me more curious about Edna St. Vincent Millay: from her poetry, her plays and her life outside the written word.
Terrific reading.......2002-12-31
Daniel Mark Epstein brings a special understanding to Edna St Vincent Millay's biography by virtue of being a poet himself. I think that's why this book is in many ways superior to the Nancy Mitford book.
Edna St Vincent Millay was not only a great person of words, but a great seductress and everyone, male and female alike, fell under her spell. Apparently, accordingly to this book, she managed to live up to their expectations quite well. Mr Epstein matches the love poems to the folks they were written for and gives the details of the various affairs. It may not sound interesting, but it is quite interesting - especially since M's Millay seemed to have a weakness for men who were not quite as talented as she was. The background behind "Fatal Interview" and the story of her (apparently) one love she lost before_she_ was ready to is quite an interesting read by itself.
Mr Epstein focuses on M's Millay as sort of a self made goddess and how her various affairs shaped her writing. M's Mitford focuses on how M's Millay's relationship with her mother shaped her life. Both of these are very interesting and I'd advise reading them consecutively and draw your own conclusions. In some respects, I think Mr Epstein is correct in what he presumes, but the same can be said of M's Mitford.
Throw yourself into the words and life of Edna St Vincent Millay - you'll find yourself awash with her beautiful poetry and prose and this book will help you make sense out of it.
enamored of Millay.......2002-03-20
Daniel Mark Epstein, like so many men of her own time, is obviously enamored of Edna St. Vincent Millay. He urges that she be restored to the "canon",although her work has not been lauded in recent years.
The intense, highly emotional poet comes alive in the pages of his well-researched book. She comes to us as a rebel, determined to live on her own terms, to make love with the freedom of a man,to explore the ecstatic heights of feeling. (Shelley, the author tells us, was her idol.)
A central point that I feel Epstein misses is that, although she may have escaped the feminine role dictated by conventions of her time, she did not escape her own compulsion to make the search for love the driving force of her actions. Her poetry also has as its overriding theme, romantic and sexual love. For this reason she missed achieving stature as a great poet. Even though she possessed a great facility for language, her works are too limited in scope.
Her eventual descent into alcoholism and drug addiction can serve as a cautionary tale against the wild self-indulgence and perpetual adolescence that plagued Millay. It must be said, however, that her verbal gifts were so great that even in the midst of her addled despair in later life, she was able still to produce, although the work then was of lesser quality.
Kudoes for Epstein's carefully researched, comprehensive biography.
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The murder of Lidice,
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Manufacturer: Harper & Brothers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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Millay, Edna St Vincent
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ASIN: B0007DR0G2 |
Book Description
These unique and beautiful lyrics -- over two hundred of them -- were selected by Edna St. Vincent Millay herself and represent the major portion of her lifework.
Their musical perfection, emotional power, and superb, delicate workmanship have made Edna St. Vincent Millay one of America's great poets.
Customer Reviews:
Sun came up, bigger than all my sorrow..........2004-02-29
I feel that anyone who gives this collection less than 5 stars hasn't given it a chance. This is the only book of poetry out of the many that I own that I have read cover-to-cover several times. My copy is dog-eared, sun-tanned, spilled-on, underlined... showing all of the signs of a book extremely well-loved. Why? Because Millay says things like the phrase I used for the title of this review, as well as:
"Above these cares my spirit in calm abiding
Floats like a swimmer at sunrise, facing the pale sky."
-- from ABOVE THESE CARES
"My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing;
Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take,
No matter where it's going." -- from TRAVEL
"Ashes am I of all that once I seemed.
In me all's sunk that leapt, and all that dreamed."
-- from THE SUICIDE
"Oh little leaves that are so dumb
Against the shrieking city air,
I watch you when the wind has come,--
I know what sound is there." -- from CITY TREES
Those are just the first few that sprung out at me from the several phrases I marked in my own copy - there are so many more that I wish I had the room to share here, but since I do not, I will close with this fitting lyric from THE POET and HIS BOOK:
"Stranger, pause and look;
From the dust of ages
Lift this little book,
Turn the tattered pages,
Read me, do not let me die!
Search the fading letters, finding
Steadfast in the broken binding
All that once was I!"
I sincerely hope you "pause and look" at Millay's COLLECTED LYRICS - it is like a script of wonderful lines describing life.
Nobel Poetry.......2002-07-24
Stay with this for my review on the Collected Lyrics
The suject of one of our summer book group meetings is the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. It was my good fortune to take home "Fatal Interview, Sonnets" from among the books offered. Never having read Ms. Millay's poetry, I was unfamiliar with even "Renascence," the first stanza of which is so well known. Having some difficulty relating to the sonnets, I persevered because she was a Nobel prize recipient. At length, the connection was made and resulted in a poem of my own, "Bravo, Ms Millay." Her search for love and especially for Source reminded me of "The Hound of Heaven."
Enter rescue in the form of Edna St. Vincent Millay Colleted Lyrics. I found the poetry enchanting. Oddly, none of the sonnets from "Fatal Interview" were included. From the very beginning, her poetry is indeed a search for God. She is very good at rhyme and meter and excells at unusual points of view that in themselves make evident what she is sharing with her readers. Bravo, Ms. Millay
Oh wondrous weaver of words given wings,
A dove soaring in the sky.
Mine, too, a heart that sings
Heaving a gentle sigh.
'Tis true we are our own being
We can only sing our song.
As true to show our seeing
All for which we long.
Your gracious exposition of love
This ordinary mortal gleans
Comes to earth from above
Astride sun and moonbeams.
Searching for your very source
Skyward soaring
Never boring force.
Millay is a poet of the first order.......2001-02-07
I own an earlier edition of this book (published by Harper & Row) and it is through this single volume that Ms. Millay has become one of my favorite poets. Her masterful use of meter and rhyme produce sentences and line breaks that are profoundly satisfying. By way of example I offer the opening stanza from the beautiful poem of spiritual awakening, "Renascence":
"All I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked another way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I'd started from;
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood."
The pieces included in this collection are taken from seven different sources, originally published between 1917 and the 1940's respectively. The themes of love, sorrow, nature and the human condition in general - coupled with Ms. Millay's intelligence, insight and sharp wit - make all of the pieces in this book timeless and perfect poetry.
from her reputation, i expected better.......2000-03-31
millay's collection of poems was not, in my opinion, a very good one. there were a dozen or so good poems (most of them from her collection _A Few Figs From Thistles_), but most were just not very good.
Book Description
A lively selection by J. D. McClatchy, the distinguished poet, critic, and editor, casts Millay's career in a new light. Here are familiar favorites alongside neglected gems: translations, a verse play, songs from her opera libretto The King's Henchman, and the complete sonnet sequence Fatal Interview.
Book Description
Compiled by her sister after the poet's death and originally published in 1956, this is the definitive edition of Millay, right up through her last poem, Mine the Harvest.
Customer Reviews:
Everything delicate but always strong.......2006-04-08
Over the years, I have worn the binding to pieces touching, flipping, - and don't hate me - earmarking the pages of this book when I wanted to remember something and couldn't find a spare scrap of paper for a marker. There is something so exposed and fragile about her work and, at the same time, she is very strong and beautifully resolved to her observations. She doesn't communicate in frilly riddles. She speaks to everyone. "Here in a Rocky Cup" on page 471 is one of her finest. It may break your heart! Enjoy.
Edna's poems for the next generation.......2006-02-23
how delightful to find a beautiful copy to introduce my granddaughter to Edna St. Vincent Millay.
The Greatest Female Poet Of Twentieth-Century America.......2005-10-15
"Time does not bring relief; you all have lied/ Who told me time would ease me of my pain!"
Old and wise beyond her years, Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote the majority of her most beautiful and famous works at a startlingly young age. One of few moments of comedy in Millay's otherwise (too) serious, brief life, was that as a published and award-winning poet while still in her teens, Millay entered college literature courses, taught by older teachers there to `instruct' her, even though they, themselves, had in most cases never published a line of verse or captured a single award!
"I burn my candle at both ends/ It will not last the night...."
This famous and oft quoted line about living the hectic life was Millay's, but many have forgotten that. A half-century after her passing, she is largely unremembered, lost among a crowd of later, lesser writers, ignored by subsequent ages that placed scant value on poetry. Hers was a life often lived invisibly behind her words. Though the events of her personal life, with her promiscuity and radical ideals, at times gained notoriety beyond even her professional achievements, Millay the poet is the force this book celebrates. Even the biographical section in this anthology is terse and respectful, which I found befitting. Edna St.Vincent Millay's poems, from the startlingly powerful Renascence, to her sonnets (the best composed in the English language in centuries) to her final experimental output at the time of World War Two, everything Millay achieved succeeds in taking the consciousness of an attentive reader into a higher realm, where the mind and soul are meditatively fused as at few other times in the human lifetime, and the voyage is one of utter transcendence.
A must for poetry lovers.......2004-06-29
There is so much to praise here, where do I start? How can I possibly communicate what these poems mean to me? "Renascence" alone takes my breath away - "The soul can split the sky in two, And let the face of God shine through." These words too, allow the divine to shine through. "Interim" is, perhaps, as beutiful a poem as I have ever read. The author brilliantly captures the essence of loss, that grief and confusion, the mind's inability to accept the notion of a life alone: "...part of your heart aches in my breast; part of my heart lies chilled in the damp earth with you. I have been torn in two, and suffer for the rest of me..." There are still so many other passages that leap off these pages. Her phrases are like literary gem stones: Sonnet XXVII: "I know I am but summer to your heart, And not the full four seasons of the year" - could it be said any more succinctly? This collection is a must for anyone who cares at all about poetry - American or otherwise.
My most treasured book.......2000-06-07
This book of collected poems is the most treasured book that I own. My copy is absolutely falling apart - I have to keep it in its own special box.
Book Description
"Well-written, engaging introduction...illuminates Millay's personal history and writing...luminous, evocative watercolors...A noteworthy addition to the poetry shelf...both informs and intrigues."--Booklist.
"Luminous, elegant illustrations bring these complex and insightful verses to life...all are fresh and alive and will draw readers into the book."--School Library Journal.
"A good assortment of Millay's poetry."--Kirkus. "The watercolor artwork creates atmospheric settings for her words."--Publishers Weekly.
Customer Reviews:
AN IMPORTANT ADDITION TO THIS SERIES. THE ART IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!.......2006-11-06
I cannot think of a better way to introduce the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay than this small volume. The selection is excellent and of interest you the young reader. The commentary is quite relevant as are the pictures which accompany it which by the way are worth the price of the book alone. I find that often now, our young people go all the way through the early grades in school and many of them have never heard of Millay much less read her poetry. This was the sort of stuff my generation and the generation before it grew up on and cut our teeth on. I do not feel I am any worse for the wear. I am fearful that we are bringing up an entire generation (rightfully or wrong, although I feel it is the later) of young folks who will have no appreciation to this great art form and will miss a lot. This book helps. This entire series helps, as a matter of fact and I certainly recommend you add this one and the others to your library. Actually, it is rather fun reading these with the young folk and then talking about them. Not only do you get to enjoy the work your self and perhaps bring back some great memories, but you have the opportunity to interact with your child or student. It is actually rather surprising what some of the kids come up with. I read these to my grandchildren and to the kids in my classes at school. For the most part, when I really get to discussing the work with them, they enjoy it. Recommend this one highly.
Beautiful........2004-04-30
The illustrations and the poetry create feelings and emotions which go beyond the pages. Mike Bryces illustrations pull you into the poetry with a style that is breath taking. The poetry will linger in your mind the illustrations in your heart. You will find yourself going to it time and time again.
Great... but not the best for a young reader..........2004-02-20
This will be a reallly personal review.
I first discovered Edna in my senior high school humanities class. When I first read it I thought, "That's so real! That's me! I can relate to that!" She so eloquently put what I wanted to say but was not capable of in my late teens and early 20's into words.
Now that I am past the dating years and finally read a short bio on the author I realize that all I really liked about her writing was that she was a modern day "fast girl" (if you catch my drift). I really feel betrayed because I thought I was so literate and now I wonder what liking her poetry so much said about me.
So now I feel for the author beacause she chose to live in the fast lane and then dull the pain and escape into drugs and alcohol... which maybe was the better choice for her if infamous was on her list of things to become.
Though I do recommend her reading strongly in general because it's romantic and interesting and delightful, I don't think it's appropriate for "young people" with lines like "What lips my lips have kissed"... Unless ofcourse instilling Catholic schoolgirl guilt into your child is at the top of your priority list... or you want to give her poems to read to her boyfriend... or something... use your discretion...
Poetry, Art and a Life all in One.......2004-01-12
I opened this book at weekly Storytime...my son likes to play with the trains while my daughters listen to the story.. I thought, "I'll just look at this for a moment" and I was transfixed for the entirety of storytime.
Yes, as the other reviewers have stated the illustrations are amazing, the poetry.... mind opening. Another facet of this book is the brief and compelling biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay.
I knew very little about her... now that I know the little that I know from this book, I am hungry for more of her work as well as more of her life.
Excellent book -- I am going to look into other titles in this series as well (The Poetry for Young People ) to see if the others are as above average as this one.
Each illustration could be the focus of additional conversation: I see myself reading these poems repeatedly with my children. They are simple, elegant and timeless.
Touching poetry accented with gorgeous illustrations.......2000-01-12
Picked up this up recently while browsing my local bookstore and was taken aback by the beautiful artwork found in this collection of Edna St. Vincent Millay's poems. I bought it on the spot! Not only are poem's heart-wrenchingly personal and affecting, the watercolor's are a feast for the eyes. I've shown this book to many of my peers who share my enthusiasm and have consequently picked it up as well. Strongly recommended!
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Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Pt. B
Nancy Milford , and
Kimberly Schraf
Manufacturer: Books on Tape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
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ASIN: 073668509X |
Book Description
This new addition to the elegant Library of Classic Poets series features selections from one of the best-loved poets of the early twentieth century. Elegantly packaged in a handsome edition with a satin ribbon marker, this volume is the perfect addition to any poetry library. Immerse yourself in the candid verse of Edna St. Vincent Millay, including such favorites as:
• "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver"
• "Renascence"
• selections from A Few Figs from Thistles
Customer Reviews:
Enchanting poems from an enchantress.......2001-09-30
The introduction to this collection of poetry says that Edna St. Vincent Millay has been criticized for not being sufficiently "modernist". He poems are too sentimental, too easy-to-read, and borrow too much from 18th century styles. Well the critics might be right but I love this poetry and plan to read more.
Her most famous lines are here "My candle burns at both ends...it gives a lovely light", her first famous poem is here "Renascance"--this spooky poem gained her a mentor and an education at Vassar--and also present are poems from "Fatal Interview" and "Epitath for the Race of Man". My favorite poems are the short ones that talk of love: these are the easy-to-read poems dismissed by the critics.
If you read this poem then you must read the potrait of Edna St. Vincent Millay in "The New Yorker" and the memoir "The Shores of Light" by Edmund Wilson, the later book reviewer for The New Yorker magazine.
Edmun Wilson was just one of ESVM many jilted suitors. But she let him down gently her said. His book describes how he found work for her at Vanity Fair magazine. ESVM evidently charmed all the men she came in touch with. The editor of Vanity Fair complained that he could not have both of his editors in love with the same contributor to the magazine.
Many of the ESVM poems here have to do with nature, like the poem "Spring". Perhaps this is because she moved out of Greenwich Village to the country and there she wrote collections such as "The Buck in Snow". When she got married and left the city she didn't lose touch with her circle of fans and hangers-on including Edmun Wilson. Wilson describes here there at her farm reciting her poetry--she knew all her poems by heart--to wide-eyed admirers.
Alot of her poems here have no title. I imagine she might have felt that the title could be a distraction to a poem. If you can't think of a good one then don't create one at all.
Finally, feminists certainly will be upset with lines like "I, being born a woman and distressed By all the needs and notions of my kind..." But this is good stuff and lets us peer inside the female heart. They are just like us men it appears "...feel a certain zest to bear your body's weight upon my breast". This stuff is just as erotic and passionate as Shakespeare's sonnets and lyric poems--well not quite but good enough.
Beautiful Poetry.......2001-08-12
I first became intrigued with the life and writing of Edna St. Vincent Millay when visiting the region of her birth while vacationing in Maine. I picked up this book as an introduction to her work and was very pleasantly surprised. "Renaissance" is her best known work and it seethes with life, hope and evinces the young Ms. Millay's gift for creating beautiful prose! Many of the other poems, which often center around death and rebirth or the loss of a lover, are equally penetrating and stunningly written in lucid language and unique metaphor. Highly recommended!
...makes you want to read more, more..........2001-08-09
I have just finished this, my first reading of Millay's poetry and I must say I enjoyed it. This anthology makes me want to read more, not less. Her poems convince me that a biography of her life would probably be a worthwhile read also. The escape she is longing for and never quite leaps into, her obvious disdain for anything artificial or constrained combined with her love and respect for the naturally occurring (freedom)... these are dominant themes. And everywhere, TREES and other growing things! It is amazing how often the trees, fruit, grain, the forest, orchards, mushrooms, moss and even weeds are the things which Millay uses to convey her philosophical reflections. In my opinion, her finest poem (Renascence) written when she was 19 reveals early on this connection she felt between revealed nature and transcendence. "God, I can push the grass apart/And lay my finger on Thy heart!"
Colin Falck, in the Introduction comments that Millay was under-appreciated by those who considered her technique too traditional, and her content lacking in intellectual complexity. Did any of these critics read her sonnets I wonder? I agree with Falck's conclusion that "it is time we found a proper place for this intense, thoughtful, and magnificently literate poet." To the merciless critics I would send Millay's own words... "Cruel of heart, lay down my song./Your reading eyes have done me wrong./Not for you was the pen bitten,/And the mind wrung, and the song written."
Millay.......2000-05-10
Millay's poetry are so touching and inspiring to the soul. You can't experience poetry until you read "Rennaisance", and so many of her other poems that give you such a love for the human body and the nature around us. R.A.E.
Book Description
One of America’s most celebrated poets—and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1923—Edna St. Vincent Millay defined a generation with her passionate lyrics and intoxicating voice of liberation. Edited by Millay biographer Nancy Milford, this Modern Library Paperback Classics collection captures the poet’s unique spirit in works like Renascence and Other Poems, A Few Figs from This-tles, and Second April, as well as in “The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver” and eight sonnets from the early twenties. As Milford writes in her Introduction, “These are the poems that made Edna St. Vincent Millay’s reputation when she was young. Saucy, insolent, flip, and defiant, her little verses sting the page.”
Customer Reviews:
Be Warned.......2004-02-19
Edna St. Vincent Millay is (in my opinion) one of the great 20th century poets, generally under-appreciated. Readers who buy this edition SHOULD BE WARNED that it's not a selection from her whole life's work, but only from her early poetry, which made her reputation but isn't necessarily her best. If you want a more comprehensive view of her work, including the later, more mature work, I think you'll have to get the Collected Poems and make your own 'selection'.
Millay--genius, Milford--idiot.......2003-05-09
Millay is one of those poets who can convey her passions succinctly. with detail, but a passionate brevity. a woman's perspective on love, friends, eternity, and humanity that can be read by any gender. The editor, however, mistakenly describes Millay's wellknown poem "Renescence" as a poem "about being buried alive". ridicuously misinterpreting Millay's theme of rebirth and reincarnation. I own this book and am happy to have the comfort of Millay's poetry.
that i love easily and pass the time.......2002-05-31
i will review this as a subset of her collected poems. millay was extremely talented, and had a resurgence in 2001 , she has
a memorial stamp from 1981. she is one of the best poets of american literature, this will be an excellent addition to your library, and an exciting opportunity to rediscover a very talented lady often neglected , i am comparing her sonnets to
shakespeares, since they are so well done
A Good Introduction.......2001-12-27
This book is a good introduction to the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay presenting many of her most memorable poems. It is not a comprehensive presentation of her writing (for example, some of her more erotic poems are not present) but it is not meant to be. The introduction is good and provides the highlights of her life and career. I would like to have had a chronology of her life and a list of her complete works in this book. Overall, this volume satisfied my curiosity but I would want a good biography to accompany this book in order to know more about St. Vincent Millay.
I must also comment on the book itself. My copy has many pages that were cut at an angle with the result that when they were bound the text becomes the margin! The end papers were also effected so the design is set on a slight angle, the edge of which comes close to being cut off. It was unsettling for me to find this book in this condition. I did not return it because I did not care to go to the expense (considering the price of the book) of packaging the book to send back.
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