Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay

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Summary: Thanks to Madeleine L'Engle...
Review: I discovered Edna St. Vincent Millay through a passage from "Recuerdo" quoted in a novel by Madeleine L'Engle (possibly Camilla). It was the first book of poems I ever bought for myself ($10 hardcover, circa 1968); I memorized "Recuerdo", took the book to the woods with me, pressed wild flowers in it, and was sure I would move to New York and ride the ferry with my lover. Never moved to New York (couldn't afford it), but I did ride Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls with my best friend and husband, who sits beside me as I write this.

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Summary: My favorite poet.
Review: I have owned this book for 11 years it is simplily the best that I have ever read. Millay words are elegant and precise. Her themes and her passion for them makes her timeless. Your libary is incomplete without EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY. I have studied poets from around the word, yet none have matched her poems. I am lucky to have discovered her work so early in life.

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Summary: Thanks to Madeleine L'Engle...
Review: Millay has been criticized for her lack of technical rigor, but that is the very essence of her accessibility to readers. Yes, she wrote poems that rhymed, sometimes to the point of sing-song meter, but her words carried weight. They meant (and still mean) something, not like the esoteric, pseudo-intellectual hodge-podge that passes for modern poetry. It seems that today's poets wear their inaccessibility as a badge of honor - that only a select group of academic word-smiths can even understand what they have written seems to represent success for them. Not so with Edna. She touches your heart, sometimes even breaks it, with common words, feelings, emotions. You don't have to work for her meaning, it is plainly presented for all to read. But beware! Her poems may be easy to understand, but they are impossible to forget.

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Summary: I enjoyed all the poems in this collection...
Review: The book I am reviewing is "Collected Poems", by Edna St.Vincent Millay. It's a rare thing that you buy a collection of poems and love them all. These are poems of both grace and depth. Sometimes they recall me the few invaluable remains of Sappho's poetry. The series of sonnets contained in the book is of stunning beauty. The small pieces, like the one on a lady walking in the evening has a delicacy akin to the best chinese antique poems.

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Summary: A must for poetry lovers
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A must for poetry lovers
Review: 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.

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Summary: My most treasured book
Review: 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.