W.S. Merwin

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born

September 30, 1927 in New York, The United States

About this author

William Stanley Merwin (New York City, September 30, 1927) is an American poet, credited with over 30 books of poetry, translation and prose. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration. In the 1980s and 1990s, Merwin's writing influence derived from his interest in Buddhist philosophy and deep ecology. Residing in Hawaii, he writes prolifically and is dedicated to the restoration of the islands' rainforests.
Merwin has received many honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (in both 1971 and 2009) 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,...more

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Books by W.S. Merwin

Average rating: 4.19 · 21,751 ratings · 1,152 reviews · 88 distinct works

	The Shadow of Sirius 4.15 avg rating — 328 ratings — published 2008 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Migration: New & Selected Poems 4.30 avg rating — 194 ratings — published 2005 — 2 editions	My rating:
	The Second Four Books of Poems 4.38 avg rating — 159 ratings — published 1992	My rating:
	Rain in the Trees 4.11 avg rating — 125 ratings — published 1987 — 4 editions	My rating:
	The Lice 4.30 avg rating — 98 ratings — published 1967	My rating:
	The First Four Books of Poems 4.17 avg rating — 89 ratings — published 1975 — 4 editions	My rating:
	The Carrier of Ladders 4.32 avg rating — 76 ratings — published 1971	My rating:
	The Vixen 4.10 avg rating — 61 ratings — published 1996 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Present Company 4.36 avg rating — 53 ratings — published 2005 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Flower & Hand: Poems, 1977-1983 3.98 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 1996	My rating:

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Quotes by W.S. Merwin

“Separation

Your absence has gone through me
Like thread through a needle.
Everything I do is stitched with its color.”
― W.S. Merwin

tags: influence , loneliness , loss , poetry

277 people liked it

“We are asleep with compasses in our hands. ”
― W.S. Merwin

20 people liked it

“with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water looking out
in different directions

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
in a culture up to its chin in shame
living in the stench it has chosen we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the back door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks that use us we are saying thank you
with the crooks in office with the rich and fashionable
unchanged we go on saying thank you thank you

with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us like the earth
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is”
― W.S. Merwin

20 people liked it

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