Edna St. Vincent Millay Books

I first came across Sylvia Plath in an anthology of modern poetry. Her poems "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus" blew me away. The former may well be, in my opinion, the best poem ever written by a woman, and one of the five best written by anyone in the last two centuries. Buying this book, I expected more of the same. Unfortunately, I found most of her early work to be dissapointingly typical. The reason Plath is so controversial is that her greatness is linked inextricably to her darkness. Before the latter manifested during her divorce and subsequent depression, there just wasn't that much to her. In other words, much of her early poetry is that of a reasonably intelligent woman- entertaining, even a little intriguing, but lacking the fury of "Lady Lazarus", the darkness of "A Birthday Present", or the fatalistic beauty of "Ariel". And while there are some glimmers of the genius that is to come (The Colossus, I Am Vertical), they aren't many. My advice to any prospective reader is to save some time and money and pick up her collection "Ariel", which contains 90% of her essential work.

Sylvia Plath - The Collected Poems has to be the best book of poetry in the world. I love Sylvia Plath, she was a genius. Her poetry moves me, everything she has ever written is gold. The first poem I ever read by Plath was Metaphors, "I've eaten a bag of green apples, boarded the train there's no getting off." Something about that line just struck a cord with me, from that moment on I was determined to read all her poems. Another poems I love include: Soliloquy of the Solipsist, I am Vertical, The Other, The Rival, You're, The Rabbit Catcher, Lady Lazaurus, Stillborn, For A Fatherless Son, Leaving Early, Morning Song, Cut, A Birthday Present, Fever 103, Gigolo, Daddy, and The Disquieting Muses. She writes about her father a lot, he died when she was nine and his death left her with depression for the rest of her life, from The Colossus, "Counting the red stars and those of plum-color. The sun rises under the pillar of your tongue. My hours are married to shadow." The Jailer is a poem I just adore, "My sleeping capsule, my red and blue zeppelin drops me from a terrible altitude." The poem, Poem for a Birthday- Witch Burning is gorgeous and frightening real, "I inhabit the wax image of myself, a doll's body. Sickness begins here: I am a dartboard for witches. Only the devil can eat the devil out." Plath left a legacy of timeless poems, short stories, and a novel, The Bell Jar. I have enjoyed reading The Collected Poems and so will you, Enjoy!

I love poetry, and this every poetry lover's fantasy. Having a volume of one of the best poet's ever almost complete collection. This is a book that I treasure, all the poems are masterpieces, and so beautiful. No one will ever write or think like Sylvia Plath again. This is a must-have for all of her fans. I own many poetry volumes--and this has to be my favorite. I would definitely recommend this--it was well deserving of 5 stars, and even people who aren't big fans of poetry have no choice but to love "The Collected Poems" by Sylvia Plath.

I originally bought this book seeking one special poem. What I have got now is a the key to the richest of treasure chests!

Anyone who has not discovered Plath's poetry-- distinctly superior to her prose-- would be greatly served to seek out a slim volume called "Crossing the Water." This haunting collection features most of her greatest poems from what I think to be her most creative years: 1957-1959. If these don't grab you, then give up on her altogether. However, the Collected Poems are the inevitable place to continue since they include her early promising works, as well as those dark pithy gems that characterize her bitterly twisted slide into the furthest reaches of her capacity for cynicism and despair.

A superb collection.

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.

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.

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.

how delightful to find a beautiful copy to introduce my granddaughter to Edna St. Vincent Millay.

"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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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!

"These were the things that bounded me/And I could touch them with my hand/Almost, I thought, from where I stand/And all at once things seemed so small/My breath came short, and scarce at all..."

Edna St. Vincent Millay made her fame with the publication of her very first poem, in "Renascence and Other Poems." While the poet has a few awkward moments here, her vibrant imagery and nature descriptions are enough to make even the lesser poetry absolutely lovely.

It opens with her enchanting "Renascence," in which Millay explores the "Universe, cleft to the core." She wanders through the eternity of the universe -- God, death, the suffering living, and the exquisite beauties of the world. "The heart can push the sea and land/Farther away on either hand/The soul can split the sky in two/And let the face of God shine through..."

From there on, Millay explores the same themes -- she writes with the beauty of nature, and describes love and loss (sometimes at the same time -- "I had you and I have you now no more"). She describes the beauties of a perfect autumn and flowered fields, wishes to start a tavern for grey-eyed people, ethereal witch-wives, coping with a broken heart, and haiku-like poems of "shattering."

One of the most striking poems is "The Suicide," in which a disillusioned person cries out ""Curse thee, Life, I will live with thee no more!" But then the person comes to "my father's house" and speaks to God about the suicide -- receiving a surprising answer.

At first glance, Millay's poetry seems very simplistic. Her lines tend to be short more often than not, her themes are simple. She doesn't strain for elaborate rhyming scenes or ultracomplex structure. Instead of more complex, self-conscious poetry, her work resembles songs.

But the beauty of Millay's poetry is in the language -- the simplicity of the poems allows her exquisite word usage to come through. Metaphors are subtle (committing suicide is described as unlocking a latch). And it's loaded with descriptions of plants and rural beauty. "All the dog-wood blossoms are underneath the tree/Browned at the edges, turned in a day..."

But it isn't only about pretty words. Millay knows how to tug at people's emotions. One poem describes a woman wandering after her lover's death, looking at books and flowers he left behind. In another, she laments, "Love has gone and left me,--and the neighbors knock and borrow/And life goes on forever like the gnawing of a mouse."

"Renascence and Other Poems" is a beautiful piece of work, and a wonderful debut for this legendary poet. "I cannot but remember, when the year grows old..."

I was captured with the first lines. Never have I read more captivating words about life and losing someone of importance. I have looked for these words, the ones that expressed what I was feeling for many years and found them waiting in Edna's book. . .just incredible.

From high school American Literature I remember four writers that impressed myself and my friends: Edith Wharton, O. Henry, Edgar Lee Masters and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Therefore, I reread Renascence as part of a reading stroll down memory lane - and found again the elegence that impressed us many years ago.

Many of these poems deal with grief and death including suicide. But beginning with the near-mystical Renascence there is a confidence in something more. Her skill is best shown in the sonnets, a form she used extensively as it is a near perfect fit for her sensibilities.

She is very much a traditional in form and rhyme with much of her imagery being garden and flower. However, there are few times that the syntax becomes awkward or forced in order for her thoughts to fit the form. In short, this is a poetry book worth reading.

This book contains one of my favorite poems, "Ashes of Life." My copy of the book is hardcover from 1917, but the poem is the same no matter what printing you read.

I've seen some collections of the "best" poetry and among others, Edna St. Vincent Millay's work is not featured. Perhaps her work is regarded as too "light weight" or perhaps structure and an ear for how a poem sounds is not as important as it once was - I don't know. But I recommend this book to help correct the lack of Edna St. Vincent Millay's poetry.

I think that Edna St. Vincent Millay is one of the best poets ever, male or female, of any time period. So of course it would follow that I think this book is great, too.

Treat your senses to her wonderful lyrics and you will see what I mean. The sonnet form is a strict one, one that few poets master yet M's Millay makes it work so wonderfully for her.
There are love sonnets, of course - but there are just as many that have nothing to do with love. All of these sonnets are great, of course I have my favorites - read throught the book and you'll probably have your own picks, too.

In this work of sonnets, selected for inclusion in this volume by Millay herself, the reader will find genius with heart and soul. Millay wrote many more kinds of poems than just sonnets, of course, but even when restricted to the old, old pattern of 14 lines and strict meter, she manages to convey profound and intimate thoughts on a wide variety of subjects: love, life, death, injustice, war, beauty, and the nature of humankind as a race of beings, to name a few. In this work one finds that some of the poems carry a dedication. There is a pair of sonnets written in memory of Sacco and Vanzetti who were executed in 1927; Millay records the tragedy of that injustice as she experienced it then, long before the more recent pronouncements of justice gone awry that we have heard during the past 25 years. Another sonnet of hers was read in the U.S. capitol in 1923 at the dedication of a statue of three feminist leaders who crusaded for equal rights. That same statue made the news in recent years, having been relegated to the Capitol basement on account of its weight and because of a proposal to hollow out its base so it can be replaced on the main floor. I was suprised -- and gratified -- to learn that Millay was part of its inauguration. Vincent, as her family and friends called her, held issues of justice close to her heart. Her greatest gift, I think, was the ability to write about intensely personal experiences and disclose them to the reader as common to everyone who is willing to look inward to the self. I've read other poets who have lived and worked since Millay's death in 1950 and I venture to say that we have not seen the like of her since. I wholeheartedly recommend her words to everyone because, having read them, I find myself more of a human being and more deeply committed to those things that really matter, given my ultimate mortality. --Todd Victor Leone

Millay was a master of prosody, and her gifts are on brilliant display in this collection of her sonnets. Form and diction that have sometimes been dismissed as out-moded or affected were tools that Millay was able to use deftly and in service of deeply felt and considered experience. Her work hasn't really been given its due yet, but why wait for the academy to catch up? This is wonderful, unforgettable work.

A very fine presentation of the early work of Edna St. Vincent Millay, one of our finest American poets. I find her work to
be in a class of its own, reaching out to the human spirit.

The presentation in this book of her first three published works really exposes the reader to Millay at the top of her form.

For me, the notes and commentary of Editor Holly Peppe helped greatly. Dr. Peppe's analysis is extremely readable and shows
a wonderful understanding of her subject. In her introduction
Holly Peppe gives an excellent overview of Ms. Millay's life as well as her art. And I found her notes in this book on Millay's
writing to be interesting and insightful. HIGHLY recommended!

This book is a lovely way to return to Edna St. Vincent Millay's early radiant poetry or to read it for the first time. Editor Holly Peppe's important and knowlegable introduction answers many lingering questions about Millay's place as a poet, her experience as a woman, and her originality as an artist. Highly recommended!

"First Fig and Other Poems" is an excellent collection of work by United States poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950). This volume is an unabridged republication of the contents of two of her books: the 1922 edition of "A Few Figs from Thistles: Poems and Sonnets," and "Second April" (1921). The book also contains a 5-page biographical introduction.

These poems reveal a remarkable poetic voice: playful, bold, quirky, passionate, and sometimes melancholy. She often writes of romantic love from a woman's perspective. I read Millay (as exemplified by this book) as a sort of poetic "soul sister" to 19th century giant Emily Dickinson: they both share an irreverent spirit and a sensuous appreciation of the natural world.

Millay was a master of traditional poetic forms; this volume contains several sonnets, as well as other poems in various patterns of meter and rhyme. Millay's genius is that she brings to these traditional forms a charm, wit, and freshness. Many of her poems incorporate classical and literary references: to Apollo, Sappho, Helen, Homer, Guinevere, etc.

I especially like the several poems which evoke the sea and the coastline with stunning language. Consider these lines from "Exiled": "Wanting the sticky, salty sweetness / of the strong wind and shattered spray; / Wanting the loud sound and the soft sound / Of the big surf that breaks all day."

Overall, this is a diverse and enjoyable gathering of poems. Another great standout is the fantasy-flavored "The Singing-Woman from the Wood's Edge," the first-person account of a being whose "mother was a leprechaun, whose father was a friar." I should also mention "Recuerdo," from whose lines I took the title of this review. Edna St. Vincent Millay is a remarkable poet, and I highly recommend "First Fig and Other Poems."

All 67 poems from "Second April" (1921) and "A Few Figs from Thistles" (1922) are collected in this book. You'll find cynical poems but also beautiful poems about nature. Edna St.Vincent Millay's gem like poems are worth to discover and you'll certainly enjoy them. Although they were created in the Jazz Age they are timeless and express feelings and thoughts that are common to us. Very recommendable collection!

This collection is divided into three sections, "Songs for the Open Road", "Sea, Rail and Sea", "Home, Rest, and Final Voyages". It contains many of the best- loved poems in the English language, poems not necessarily associated with subjects of Travel and Adventure, though they may touch upon them.
One of the great examples is an Emily Dickinson selection"

"There is no frigate
like a book
To take us
Lands away.

Nor any corvette
like a page
of prancing
Poetry.

This traverse
may the poorest take
Without the oppress
of Toll.

How frugal
is the Chariot
that bears a human soul.

The title poem is from Whitman, and it sets the tone for what should be a highly enjoyable vogage, of mind, heart and soul.

It's hard to believe how many of the best poems in English are in this thin little book -- ninety poems for a dollar. I second the action of the Poetry Project in giving it free to lots of people. Buy one for your glove compartment, your office, your study, and your best reader friend!

This 47 page catalog so thoroughly describes the materials in the New York Library's 1992 exhibition commemorating the anniversary of Edna St. Vincent Millay's 100th birthday as to tell the story of the poet's life. One can read reprinted letters and poetry. There are pictures of Millay not published in biographies of her. In particular the cover holds a rare photograph of Millay with her mother and two sisters.

Edna St.Vincent Millay writes poetry of passion and power. If you don't buy the book at least check it out from the library and experience her poems. The way she talks about travel and love and nature is the way that my subconscious thinks of these subjects. She's great and this book is a good sampling of her poems.