The Speaker
The speaker has a fast-paced and passionate lifestyle, as depicted in the extended metaphor of a candle burning at both ends. All of her resources are being used to either work or party (perhaps both). Though a speaker should not be equated to the poet, this particular speaker resembles Millay in that she was known to live intensely, both in regard to the work she produced and in her personal life. The speaker has made both friends and enemies, as evidenced by the third line in the poem. In remarking how lovely her light is, the speaker could be satirizing herself slightly. Overall, though, this poem reads as a celebration of the speaker's self.
The Speaker's Foes
The speaker's foes appear only briefly in the poem. Not much information is given about them, but their existence helps portray the character of the speaker. Having multiple foes perhaps means that the speaker lives blatantly and controversially.
The Speaker's Friends
Like the speaker's foes, the speaker's friends only appear briefly in the third line of the poem when the speaker addresses her friends and enemies, telling them how beautiful her light is.
