Girl Called Vincent: The Life of Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay
Introduction G W hen I was about 12 years old I found these words in a poetry book 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 The words were simple and they made me want to be in that beautiful place where I could see three islands in a bay three long mountains and a wood I kept reading Over these things I could not see These were the things that bounded me Hmm Now I wasn t poem was't sure what the really about It was a very long one more than 200 lines but the rhythm of the words the very clear images and the stirring emotions kept me reading By the time I had finished it I was puzzled moved and intrigued all at once I started reading it again That poem was Edna St Vincent Millay's Re Page 11
nascence and I have never forgotten the experience of reading it in my attic bedroom over and over again feeling chills and heat and fascination I was a young girl who believed herself a poet and this poem was deeply inspiring I started to learn more about Edna St Vincent Millay and found out that she was only 19 years old when she wrote this poem Her life seemed amazing to me It sounded romantic and exciting Known to her family and friends as Vincent she was a tiny red haired high spirited girl who loved to write poems plays and music and to perform She grew up to be a tiny red haired high spirited woman who became known as one of America's greatest poets When she appeared onstage to recite her poetry audiences went wild at the sight of the slight figure in the long silk gown Men and women sent her flowers and love notes Can you imagine an audience going wild for a poet That was how people reacted to Vincent How did that little girl become such a sensation who bewitched audiences with her words her voice and her appearance How did a girl raised in poverty in rural Maine grow into an international celebrity And how did she come to write poems that still make us tingle when we read them today There is one word that captures the essence of Edna St Vincent Millay and her writing passion She was a girl who from her earliest years threw herself at the world taking everything she wanted from it and turning her life and all its experiences into stir Page 12 1 page left in this chapter
ring poems One of her most well known poems sums up her approach to life 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 The life of Edna St Vincent Millay was filled with adventure art beauty love and sometimes pain I believe that her story teaches us to face life with eagerness and honesty to work for what we desire to be brave in small moments and big ones to live as we believe is right for us and to appreciate and exhil arate in the world's beauty When Vincent was 20 in a letter to a new friend who questioned whether her poem was about some thing she found in a book she wrote indignantly T1 slap your face I see things with my own eyes just as if they were the first eyes that ever saw and then I set about to tell as best I can just what I've seen In this book I try to look at Vincent s story with my own eyes both the eyes of the girl who discov ered her poetry and those of the woman who appreci ates what it took to live her life and to tell her story as best I can Page 13
A Girl Called Vincent 1892 1904 s the baby emerged she appeared to be wearing a thin translucent veil over her face The doctor attending the birth quickly reached out his hand to wipe away the transparent covering and the newborn gave her first lusty cry Her family instantly grasped the omen this was no ordinary child who had come into the world The red haired infant had been born with a caul a thin membrane covering her face a rarity and a sign for those who believe in such things that the person is destined for an extraordinary life For Edna St Vincent Millay the omen proved true Born to Cora Buzzell Millay and Henry Tollman Millay a few minutes after six o clock on the morning of February 22 1892 in the small coastal city of Rockland Maine Vincent as she quickly came to be called did lead an extraordinary life Passionate rebellious and hungry for experience of every kind she became renowned throughout the world as much for her zealous spirit as for her fervent poetry Page 14 9 pages left in this chapter
