Millay wrote the poem, which she first called ‘My Candle,’ at Romany Marie’s cafe in Greenwich Village. In New York she lived in a number of places in Greenwich Village, including a house owned by the Cherry Lane Theatre that was renowned for being the smallest in New York City. It was at this time that she first attained great popularity in America. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923, for ‘The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver’, A Few Figs From Thistles and Eight Sonnets In American Poetry. She was the first woman to be so honored for poetry. Her reputation was damaged by poetry she wrote in support of the Allied war effort during World War II. Merle Rubin noted: ‘She seems to have caught more flak from the literary critics for supporting democracy than Ezra Pound did for championing fascism.’
1920/USA