Elinor Morton Wylie was born on September 7, 1885 in Somerville, New Jersey, An accomplished poet, novelist and essayist she was also know for her ethereal beauty and her scandalous lifestyle. Failed marriages, miscarriages, affairs, flouting of conventions, Elinor was certainly a woman of experience. Her poetry has been very well received and amongst all her literary talents this is for what she is most remembered. But her essays reveal another side of this beguiling talent. They certainly reveal a foundation and structure that she was eager to impart if not quite make use of herself.