The Moving Target

by W.S. Merwin

This is the seventh printing of the edition first published in 1963.

Genres: Poetry

116 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

William Stanley Merwin was an American poet, credited with over fifty books of poetry, translation and prose.

William Stanley Merwin (September 30, 1927 – March 15, 2019) was an American poet who wrote more than fifty books of poetry and prose, and produced many works in translation. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, his writing influence derived from an interest in Buddhist philosophy and deep ecology. Residing in a rural part of Maui, Hawaii, he wrote prolifically and was dedicated to the restoration of the island's rainforests.

Merwin received many honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1971 and 2009; the National Book Award for Poetry in 2005, and the Tanning Prize—one of the highest honors bestowed by the Academy of American Poets—as well as the Golden Wreath of the Struga Poetry Evenings. In 2010, the Library of Congress named him the 17th United States Poet Laureate.

Reviews

[Edita · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a feeling of imaginative daring here, a sense of pushing-out, of going-beyond, of linguistic adventurousness that was the main missing ingredient in the author's other poems.

—James Dickey


Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.
*
Oh
Together
Embracing departure
We hoisted our love like a sail

And like a sail and its reflection
However
We move and wherever
We shall be divided as by water
Forever forever
Though
Both sails shudder as they go
And both prows lengthen the same sorrow
*
Moored to the same ring:
The hour, the darkness and I,
Our compasses hooded like falcons.

Now the memory of you comes aching in
With a wash of broken bits which never left port,
In which once we planned voyages.
They come knocking like hearts asking:
What departures on this tide?
*
All the words have been emptied from the books.
The heating is hopeless at any hour. I am
Eating one of my last apples and waiting
For my departure to overtake me
*
The bird of ash has appeared at windows
And the roads will turn away, mourning.
What distances we survived, the fire
With its one wing
And I with my blackened heart.
*
Oh Necessity you with the face you with
All the faces

This is written on the back of everything

[Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very much what I thought it might be - a prelude to Merwin's greatest book - The Lice. You can see in these poems all the virtuosity that makes Merwin who he is and was. His is a vision of the natural world that is dominated by violent and beautiful imagery. You find yourself in these images, even as they threaten to draw everything into the surreal. There are incredible moments (like the poem Another Year Come) that are classic Merwin, but there are also moments that are overwrought and cringingly overpoetic. The mind fatigues a bit with these poems, and the book is best taken in small doses. Those small doses can be incredibly potent.

[Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hints of future Merwin genius, not as fully stunning as Ladders or Sirius, but enough great material in this collection to warrant a serious read. "For Now" ranks among my favorite Merwin masterpieces, As the other reviewer has added, take this book in small doses, as it has a tendency to overwhelm, with each line hanging often like a lead weight. I also enjoyed reading this aloud, which functioned to make Merwin´s dense, traffic-jam lack of punctuation more decipherable.

[Stephen Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of people think this book is where Merwin really starts to be good because it's where he starts to discover his minimal, non-punctuated style. If you're reading through his bibliography, it's definitely shocking to go from The Drunk in the Furnace to this one, but not in a good way in my opinion. He'll get better at this as he goes, but this is still him experimenting with his new style rather than being comfortable with it. Not so hot, taken as a whole, though there are some striking bits.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Catching up on logging my vacation reads. Merwin was selected for our poetry book club to give us - and me - a chance to read some Hawaiian poetry. Unfortunately, The Moving Target was published in 1966 - when this Jersey boy had lived in Europe and in big cities on the eastern US, but not yet in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Islands, especially Maui, had not yet mystified William with their unparalleled beauty and cultural complexity. So this book is continental, big city, mid-century modern, and anti-war, and not the environmentalism of his later works.

[Samson LeFerg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's be real: 3.5 stars for this one.

I was reminded of a pianist working in only one or two octaves: Merwin's intentionally limited diction, the way he whittles his motifs down to an apocalyptic code or incantation, has something of the exercise about it. I'd like more range, I suppose, more color -- but who can have color when the singer is blind? Or the shoes are on the pillows? Or the doors have lost their hinges and the bridges have collapsed?

You get the picture (or the tune).

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

WS Merwin's 'Moving Target' offers moments of poignant reflection and lyrical beauty, yet falls short of consistent engagement. While Merwin's mastery of language is evident, the collection lacks cohesion, leaving readers searching for a stronger thematic thread. However, for poetry enthusiasts seeking glimpses of profound insight, 'Moving Target' still holds moments of quiet brilliance.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took this on every hike with me for several years and read at least one poem out loud in the wilderness. Now the trails of the Southwest are populated with Merwin.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think there is a better living poet. Give the guy the Nobel for godsake.

[Darrin Kramer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Merwin gallops through the journey of life. This early collection is new wine bottled. We can appreciate his growth as as poet when we compare current work with this one.