The Courage That My Mother Had

The courage that my mother had” is a late poem in Millay’s canon, published posthumously as part of her final collection and written at a point in her life that was filled with sorrow and grief. The 1940s had proved difficult for Millay. In 1944, she suffered a nervous breakdown and wrote little in the aftermath, convalescing at Steepletop, the farm she shared with her husband Eugene Jan Boissevain, who supported her in her recovery. In 1949, Boissevain died from a stroke, and his death sent Millay into a further health decline, as she drank heavily and eventually had to be hospitalized once more.

Upon returning from the hospital, Millay settled in at Steepletop and wrote Mine the Harvest, producing reflective poems that displayed one of her main strengths as a poet: writing clearly and evocatively on profound topics like death, grief, love and art. Her poetry at this time used a variety of forms, including the sonnet, for which she was best known. “The courage that my mother had,” in its simplicity and technical efficiency, embodies late-period Millay, showing a poet at the height of her craft under the influence of grief.

Millay died in 1950, as she worked on the book, from a heart attack.