Who is William Stanley Merwin

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...
Read Full Biography of William Stanley Merwin


William Stanley Merwin Poems

  • Some Last Questions
    What is the head
    A. Ash
    What are the eyes
    A. The wells have fallen in and have ...
  • Remembering
    There are threads of old sound heard over and over
    phrases of Shakespeare or Mozart the slender
    wands of the auroras playing out from them
    into dark time the passing of a few ...
  • The Burnt Child
    Matches among other things that were not allowed
    never would be
    lying high in a cool blue box
    that opened in other hands and there they all were ...
  • A Letter To Ruth Stone
    Now that you have caught sight
    of the other side of darkness
    the invisible side
    so that you can tell ...
  • Beggars And Kings
    In the evening
    all the hours that weren't used
    are emptied out
    and the beggars are waiting to gather them up ...
Read All Poems


Top 10 most used topics by William Stanley Merwin

Time 11 Night 10 Light 10 Never 10 Long 9 Black 8 Dark 8 Silence 7 Remember 7 Morning 7


William Stanley Merwin Quotes

Read All Quotes


Comments about William Stanley Merwin

Timdski: rip, william stanley merwin
Momiramonika: every year without knowing i have passed the day when the last fires will wave to me and the silence will set out tireless traveler like the beam of a lightless star ~ ~ william stanley merwin ~ 30.9.1927-15.3.2019 foto: michael shainblum
_iamrilya: your absence has gone through me like thread through a needle. everything i do is stitched with its color. by william stanley merwin
Happy_at_home_: every year without knowing it i have passed the day. -william stanley merwin “for the anniversary of my death” 1967 “love and death” francisco goya 1799
Everytitlecincy: opening the hand : poems—merwin, w. s. (william stanley), 1927-2019 1983 book | 811.54 m576 h items: 2 | circs: 6 | last circ: 5/2019
Read All Comments


Write your comment about William Stanley Merwin


Poem of the day

Edgar Albert Guest Poem
The Killing Place
 by Edgar Albert Guest

We're hiking along at a two-forty pace
We 're making life seem like a man-killing race,
With our nerves all on edge and our jaws firmly set
We go rushing along; with our brows lined with sweat
And our cheeks pale and drawn every minute we dash,
And the goal that we 're after is merely more cash.

We 're out for the money, the greenbacks and gold,
...

Read complete poem

Popular Poets