Selected Poems

by W.S. Merwin

W.S. Merwin is arguably the most influential American poet of the last half-century - an artist who has transfigured and reinvigorated the vision of poetry for our time. While he has long been viewed in the States as an essential voice in modern American literature, his poetry has been unavailable in Britain for over 35 years. This new selection covers over five decades of his poetry, from "The Dancing Bears" (1954) to "Present Company" (2005). Most of the book is drawn from his major American retrospective, "Migration", winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Poetry. Merwin's poetry has moved beyond the traditional verse of his early years to revolutionary open forms that engage a vast array of influences and possibilities. As Adrienne Rich wrote of his work: "I would be shamelessly jealous of this poetry, if I didn't take so much from it into my own life." His recent poetry is perhaps his most personal, arising from his deeply held beliefs. Merwin is not only profoundly anti-imperialist, pacifist and environmentalist, but also possessed by an intimate feeling for landscape and language and the ways in which land and language interflow. His latest poems are densely imagistic, dream-like, and full of praise for the natural world.

Genres: Poetry

276 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1988

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

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

W.S. Merwin passed away last week, so I decided to take another look at my copy of his Selected Poems. I've been reading Merwin for 35 years now. His Selected Poems start chronologically, which is a better way to read his work and the work of other poets.

I prefer his early work to his later work, and find his celebrated books of the late 1960s to early 1970s to be his strongest works. I prefer his poems that focus less on environmental admonitions and more on the observations of life as a solitary poet. Some of his poems are amazing in how the words stay with you; an example is "Something I've Not Done," which is just a beautiful poem in tone, theme, and understatement. Today, where everything is overt and over the top and in your face, it's nice to read reserved poems of quiet and solitude:

"Tale"

After many winters the moss
finds the sawdust crushed bark chips
and says old friend
old friend

[xtina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly out of print. My favorite collection of his work, I buy it whenever I see it so I can pass it along to friends.

[Daniel Klawitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Remoteness is its own secret."

[Hollis Fishelson-holstine · Rating 2 out of 5]

some nice ones but didn’t necessarily grab me

[Biscuits · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the later poems the most, where Merwin lets loose a bit concentrating less on form and punctuation and more on his interesting way of being political.

Some of my favorite poems include Yesterday, Ash, Finding A Teacher, and Strawberries.

As an undergrad poetry student, I've been told about strong line breaks, punctuation, and show vs. tell. Merwin often disregards these facets. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't for me.

As can be told by my favorite poems, my favorite Merwin moments are when he uses that loose, sparse style with a cool image.

[Terri Kempton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've milled over this book for years, and while I don't automatically "get" some of his lengthier pieces, when he's good he's fantastic.

[H]

impersonal poetry, of which our generation has a paucity. "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" is an astounding modern fable.

[Tree Olive · Rating 4 out of 5]

met him in '91, don't remember shit about him, liked the book though.