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Letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay
A collection of the poet's correspondences from 1900 to 1950.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1952
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About the author
Edna St. Vincent Millay
445 books1,095 followersEdna St. Vincent Millay was an American lyrical poet and playwright. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923, the third woman to win the award for poetry, and was also known for her feminist activism and her many love affairs. She used the pseudonym Nancy Boyd for her prose work.
This famous portrait of Vincent (as she was called by friends) was taken by Carl Van Vechten in 1933.
This famous portrait of Vincent (as she was called by friends) was taken by Carl Van Vechten in 1933.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 22, 2014
The rating is more for Millay's funny, sad, clever writing than for anything attributable to the editor. I would have preferred him to do less cutting-down of letters and more foot-noting. Often a single line explaining who a person was or what event/conversation/problem was being referenced would have helped a lot. Since he was a personal friend of Millay's I assume this wouldn't have been overwhelmingly difficult. It would also have been nice to have some of the letters to which she was replying included, since in some cases she was clearly responding to specific statements. Basically, I guess I'm saying I would've preferred a longer book.
February 11, 2013
Vincent reading Recuerdo.
An interesting look at an interesting woman, these letters range from her younger years (some written as early as age 8) up until her last month (the last letter from September 1950; she died in a freakish accident in October of the same year). We see the reader in an intimate light, different than the light of her poetry - here we see her as an individual, an author and a thinker, talented in even something often so trivial and minute as writing letters. She was capable of being wholly serious (as in the case of writing to her editors or other professional colleagues), playful (as in her loving letters to Arthur Ficke or Edmund Wilson), and even childish at times (as in most of her letters to her sisters or mother).
The issue I have with this sort of collection is the letters are all entirely one-sided. We only get Vincent's side of things. It's a shame there aren't letters from her family, her lovers, even her husband in this collection, to truly flesh out this fascinating woman. This isn't to say that her own letters are boring, for that's hardly the case. She was often sassy ("Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it." p35) and liked to talk a lot of smack, which I 100% support and encourage. You could tell she loved her friends and family, and their opinions meant a great deal, though she wasn't always as transparent as this:
This is an old collection and I half wonder if there are other letters somewhere in the world (hello, looking at you, Library of Congress!) which might give more background to Vincent and/or her relationships. I'm happy for what correspondence does exist, but hope there's more out there that just hasn't been released yet.
I will say that the two biographies I've read most recently (Milford's Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Epstein's What Lips My Lips Have Kissed: The Loves and Love Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay) likely used these letters in writing their books. Some of the passages were familiar to me as I've read them in one or the other biography; it was actually a lot of fun being able to take what I already learned from the two biographers and actually get Vincent's own perspective on certain issues, like how she was at first denied graduation with her class from Vassar for being, erm, unladylike in a public place, or later, her recoveries from many surgeries. Surprisingly there were no references to her drug use and abuse, and I wonder if she really did keep it to herself (and her husband), or if it was just not discussed in any way in letters at the time, or if the editor, a friend of Vincent's, chose not to include those. I always wonder which letters are being withheld from me when I read collections like these.
Also of note, based on the facsimiles of a couple of her letters in this book - holy shitballs, that woman had horrendous handwriting. Even before she was doped up on meds and drunk out of her gourd - her handwriting, at best, was epileptic chicken scratch.
An interesting look at an interesting woman, these letters range from her younger years (some written as early as age 8) up until her last month (the last letter from September 1950; she died in a freakish accident in October of the same year). We see the reader in an intimate light, different than the light of her poetry - here we see her as an individual, an author and a thinker, talented in even something often so trivial and minute as writing letters. She was capable of being wholly serious (as in the case of writing to her editors or other professional colleagues), playful (as in her loving letters to Arthur Ficke or Edmund Wilson), and even childish at times (as in most of her letters to her sisters or mother).
The issue I have with this sort of collection is the letters are all entirely one-sided. We only get Vincent's side of things. It's a shame there aren't letters from her family, her lovers, even her husband in this collection, to truly flesh out this fascinating woman. This isn't to say that her own letters are boring, for that's hardly the case. She was often sassy ("Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it." p35) and liked to talk a lot of smack, which I 100% support and encourage. You could tell she loved her friends and family, and their opinions meant a great deal, though she wasn't always as transparent as this:
(You were disappointed in my manuscripts, weren't you? I knew you would be. And I don't know why I sent them - I knew they were inferior. But I think of the atrocious puns and all the ungramaticisms of Shakespere [sic], and the many many times when Browning stoops to vaudeville stunts - and don't quite lose faith in me!)
p31 (letter to Arthur Davison Ficke)
This is an old collection and I half wonder if there are other letters somewhere in the world (hello, looking at you, Library of Congress!) which might give more background to Vincent and/or her relationships. I'm happy for what correspondence does exist, but hope there's more out there that just hasn't been released yet.
I will say that the two biographies I've read most recently (Milford's Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Epstein's What Lips My Lips Have Kissed: The Loves and Love Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay) likely used these letters in writing their books. Some of the passages were familiar to me as I've read them in one or the other biography; it was actually a lot of fun being able to take what I already learned from the two biographers and actually get Vincent's own perspective on certain issues, like how she was at first denied graduation with her class from Vassar for being, erm, unladylike in a public place, or later, her recoveries from many surgeries. Surprisingly there were no references to her drug use and abuse, and I wonder if she really did keep it to herself (and her husband), or if it was just not discussed in any way in letters at the time, or if the editor, a friend of Vincent's, chose not to include those. I always wonder which letters are being withheld from me when I read collections like these.
Also of note, based on the facsimiles of a couple of her letters in this book - holy shitballs, that woman had horrendous handwriting. Even before she was doped up on meds and drunk out of her gourd - her handwriting, at best, was epileptic chicken scratch.
July 19, 2016
I don't always have time to write reviews, and I often think that the previous reviews say enough about what one could say about a book. But I was moved to write about the letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay. It's not a biography, and letters are after all just one side of a conversation. But Millay wrote a lot of letters, to a slowly changing roster of friends (with some near-permanent correspondents, like her mother, her sisters, and one or two friends from her youth), and you get a very real and immediate sense of what she was like. I don't think it can be reduced to a cultivated persona, where she performs "Edna St. Vincent Millay" or "Vincent" or "Sefe." You get an oblique view of her friendships, her loves, her politics, and her more or less nonstop preoccupation with making a living as a poet, sometime actor, and author.
What moved me more than anything else was the sheer size, volume, and intensity of her many loves. I kept recalling that these letters were written before the internet, before email, and people were often isolated from their loved ones for long periods. They wrote them about their everyday lives, their troubles, their experiences, their reading, and more. In Millay's letters, you get a clear and strong impression of her sitting in an apartment or a house, going about her business, and being overwhelmed with just missing a friend or family member, and stopping whatever it was that she was doing to write. You feel her anxiety when letters didn't come, or were late, and how she guessed at how her correspondents must have felt.
On the one hand, this was a powerful read, but on the other, curiously light. You can pretty much sail through it - but nonetheless I found myself time and again laying the book down to just be with the thoughts and emotions that her letters aroused in me.
What moved me more than anything else was the sheer size, volume, and intensity of her many loves. I kept recalling that these letters were written before the internet, before email, and people were often isolated from their loved ones for long periods. They wrote them about their everyday lives, their troubles, their experiences, their reading, and more. In Millay's letters, you get a clear and strong impression of her sitting in an apartment or a house, going about her business, and being overwhelmed with just missing a friend or family member, and stopping whatever it was that she was doing to write. You feel her anxiety when letters didn't come, or were late, and how she guessed at how her correspondents must have felt.
On the one hand, this was a powerful read, but on the other, curiously light. You can pretty much sail through it - but nonetheless I found myself time and again laying the book down to just be with the thoughts and emotions that her letters aroused in me.
January 24, 2023
another one i've been working on for a long time now - i'm really glad i stuck with it and finished them though. edna st. vincent millay is a really fascinating, smart, and witty person who had a really tragic life and it was both heartbreaking and delightful to get to see things from her point of view on a really personal level. i can't think about her and arthur ficke too much without crying but there's an incredible and tragic love story if you've ever seen one.
5/5, this is a really fascinating if dense collection that i would absolutely recommend checking out if you enjoy her poetry!
5/5, this is a really fascinating if dense collection that i would absolutely recommend checking out if you enjoy her poetry!
November 15, 2012
A wonderful collection of letters spanning a huge number of years from childhood onwards.Edna travelled a lot in her life and it was a pleasure going along with her even if only through her letters to friends.There was a lot of detail in the book, all the places she visited, many sicknesses, comical tales of life and tales of her writing and poems. Fan letters and letters to her publishers etc. A really great book that is essential for any fan of the great woman.
September 1, 2012
Letters provide such a keen insight into a person's life. Vincent's compiled letters show her guard down and her natural humor and boldness up. My favorite to read were those to her sisters--"Wump" and "Hunk" as she called them--and to her mother. Her love for them--and for many people that she wrote to--was unrestrained. I wonder, what will we know in the future about the authors we love now? Emails are so porous and unsatisfying...
March 10, 2014
I have a much older collection of this book that I bought in Los Angeles and have moved with many times. Millay's letters are funny. Touching. Insightful. Wicked. You can read them without feeling a voyeur (you know, like you do) and her voice is so clear and bright and sharp. I love reading the writing of poets. If you do to, pick this one up.
July 13, 2019
It's been a long time since I read this but when I did I just loved it. Her letters are so well written. There's one that I especially liked. I did a reading of it for a speech class I was taking at the time. It describes an artistic experience she has as a performer.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews