Edna St. Vincent Millay was born in Rockland, Maine, on February 22, 1892. When Millay was eight, her parents divorced, and her mother reared her. Mrs. Millay encouraged the girl's independent spirit and interest in writing. As a result, Millay submitted some of her early poems for publication, and the children's magazine St. Nicholas published several of them. Millay first attracted widespread attention, however, at the age of nineteen, when her poem "Renascence" was published. In fact, the success of this poem was a major factor in Millay's earning a scholarship to Vassar College in 1914 after completing a semester at Barnard College.

Upon graduating in 1917, Millay went to live in New York's bohemian Greenwich Village. She lived on limited means, working with a theater troupe and writing poetry. In the free-spirited atmosphere of Greenwich Village, Millay was very open about her relationships with several literary men. During the...