PLATH, Sylvia (her copy) - MILLAY, Edna St Vincent.

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Renascence and Other Poems. Sylvia Plath's annotated copy, with her bookplate and a gift inscription on the front free endpaper: "To Sylvia with love. Mother". Plath received Renascence on Christmas Day 1946, and Millay became one of the teenager's favourite poets. This copy was later returned by a friend to Sylvia's mother Aurelia, who may be responsible for some of the additional marginalia.Confessional, lyrical, and intensely emotional, Millay's writing resonated with Plath. She underlined a long section at the end of the titular "Renascence" in which the narrator achieves a spiritual breakthrough, beginning "The world stands out on either side / No wider than the heart is wide" (p. 14). Several emphasized sections of the book reflect Plath's alienation and depression, such as "And life goes on forever like the gnawing of a mouse" (p. 47) in "Ashes of Life". However, other underlined sentences revel in the glories of nature: "What is the need of heaven / When Earth can be so sweet?" (p. 21). Plath later heard a recording of Millay reading "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver" and "Renascence" in her high school English class and found it "so beautiful I could hardly keep from crying" (Plath, quoted in Rollyson, p. 131). She wrote about Millay in her application letter to Smith College, and visited Millay's house on 75 1/2 Bedford Street, Manhattan, while staying with a friend. This copy of Renascence likely accompanied Plath to college, as her bookplate matches others she used i

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