[1][2][3][4][5] Marie Under was born on 27 March 1883[6] in Reval (Tallinn), Estonia to school teachers Friedrich (1843–1930) and Leena Under (née Kerner) (1854–1934).

In May 1917, Under was one of the writers who formed the influential Siuru literary group with Adson, Friedebert Tuglas, August Gailit, Henrik Visnapuu, and later Johannes Semper.

[7] The group was named after a fire-bird in Finnic mythology, and it was an expressionistic and neo-romantic movement that ran counter to the Young Estonia formalist tradition.

In 1919, conflicts within the group led Visnapuu and Gailit to leave, while Johannes Vares and August Alle joined as new members.

Notably, her work included explicit erotic poems, a departure from prevailing norms, which garnered attention and inspired subsequent writers.

[13] During World War II, Under and her family fled to Sweden in September 1944 to escape from the Soviet invasion and reoccupation of Estonia.

[11] On 9 June 2016, Under and Adson were interred at Rahumäe Cemetery in Tallinn alongside her daughter Hedda Hacker and sister Berta.

A change in tone developed in the late 1920s as she shifted again to appreciation and concern for life and wellbeing rather than simple despair knowing that they shall end.

[6] Her influences included the Bible, William Shakespeare, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and traditional folk legends.