Edna St Vincent Millay is known as one of the more notorious free spirits of her time.

Her affairs were many, with both men and women, and her fame and popularity as a poet showered her with the kind of adulation we confer upon rock stars today.

Her passion for living is expressed in the immortal line of her poem:

"My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -- It gives a lovely light!"