“Let us forget such words, and all they mean, as Hatred, Bitterness and Rancor, Greed, Intolerance, Bigotry; let us renew our faith and pledge to Man, his right to be Himself, and free.” – Edna St. Vincent Millay.
St. Vincent Millay, who was born on this date in 1892, won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry – only the third woman to win the award in that category – in 1923. And just to show that she wasn’t a “one hit wonder,” she won the Frost Medal for her lifetime contribution to American poetry 20 years later. In between, she wrote many, many great poems and earned the accolade from fellow poet Richard Wilbur that “She wrote some of the best sonnets of the century.”
“A person who publishes a book willfully appears before the populace with his pants down," said Millay. "If it is a good book nothing can hurt him. If it is a bad book nothing can help him.” Millay wrote good books and plays. And her poetry was even better.
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