William Stanley Merwin Silence Poems
- 1. Some Last Questions
What is the head
A. Ash
What are the eyes
A. The wells have fallen in and have
... - 2. For The Anniversary Of My Death
Every year without knowing it I have passed the day
When the last fires will wave to me
And the silence will set out
Tireless traveller
... - 3. The Speed Of Light
So gradual in those summers was the going
of the age it seemed that the long days setting out
when the stars faded over the mountains were not
leaving us even as the birds woke in full song and the dew
... - 4. A Codex
It was a late book given up for lost
again and again with its sentences
bare at last and phrases that seemed transparent
... - 5. Air
Naturally it is night.
Under the overturned lute with its
One string I am going my way
Which has a strange sound.
... - 6. The Ships Are Made Ready In Silence
Moored to the same ring:
The hour, the darkness and I,
Our compasses hooded like falcons.
... - 7. Whenever I Go There
Whenever I go there everything is changed
The stamps on the bandages the titles
Of the professors of water
...
