Existing comment:
Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1892-1950
William Zorach's portrait of Edna St. Vincent Millay appeared in Century magazine in June 1923, accompanying a laudatory article on her poetry, which had just earned her the Pulitzer Prize. Zorach met Millay around 1917, when both were working with the Provincetown Players in Greenwich Village. He depicts Millay's lovely features and intelligent gaze, while the provocative opening of her jacket hints at her independent spirit and charismatic personality. Others described her as a tiny, pale young woman with bright-red bobbed hair and sea-green eyes who dominated her surroundings. One of the most widely read poets of her generation, Millay was famous for such verses as "First Fig":
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!
William Zorach, c 1923 |