A literary event -- a new volume of poems by one of the masters of modern poetry -- The Rain in the Trees is W. S. Merwin's first book since the pu...
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reviews
Mar 16, 2009
melissa/missy
rated it: 
Perhaps it’s because I am writing this review with my windows open, and I can feel spring creeping up on me. Perhaps it’s because every time I turn on the news, there’s another story about corporate gluttony and corruption that makes my stomach turn. But I want to keep reading these poems, over and over. The Rain in the Trees was a perfectly-timed read for me: a story about nature and the wild, and about the human tendency to dominate anything that seems foreign or pure, and about what we are
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Oct 03, 2011
Jsavett1
rated it: 
I feel very guilty for not loving this collection. Everyone tells me I should. Merwin is a recent poet laureate, and you can't find a negative word about his poetry anywhere. I feel compelled to say, "I guess it's my fault." Whether this is true or not depends upon your idiosyncratic taste. These poems, with their breathlessness, are simply too abstract for me.
Oct 29, 2009
my favorite of all favorite poets and books; the ideal moment between sunset and evening, sunrise and morning, and the moments in our lives dripping with nature
Dec 16, 2007
Abraham
rated it: 
Half of the time I feel like Merwin's lack of punctuation is a liberation of the page and half the time it seems to be so limiting - like trying to frame a house with only one tool (a Skillsaw maybe?)I guess it's a kind of hidden formalism which sets inherent rules for how the writer can control the pace of reading.
Otherwise, this book has some long moments of Merwin-esque brilliance and runs a little too declarative at other times. Still a good read, though you should read The Lice
Otherwise, this book has some long moments of Merwin-esque brilliance and runs a little too declarative at other times. Still a good read, though you should read The Lice
Mar 04, 2008
Amy
rated it:
If you really get into poetry, as I do, this is a nice read on a summer day.
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