Burn the candle at both ends tonight in honor of the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, born on this day in 1892. Brought up by a single mother who struggled financially but encouraged her daughter in her writing, Millay showed early precocity as a poet. Her talents were honed at Vassar, and she was a glam bohemian figure in Greenwich Village. She wrote frankly about her sexuality andwon a Pulitzer for her poetry in 1923. She and husband Eugen Boissevain (who supported her staunchly though apparently they were not "exclusive" in their sexual relationship) bought their Steepletop estate in Austerlitz, NY, in 1925. She lived there until her death in 1950.
I would quote her famous poem--the one about burning the candle at both ends, about not lasting the night but giving a lovely sight--only according to the very prim and proper website of the Millay Society (how easy to embalm a bohemian!) I can't quote even a part of it without their permission.
Here's a link to the Millay Society's website, which renders a colorful life in pale pastels:
http://www.millaysociety.org/millaybio.htm
The photo is from Wikipedia. They also quote the poem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edna_St._Vincent_Millay
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