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Collected poems 1996-2011 / W. S. Merwin. ; J. D. McClatchy, editor.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: Library of America ; 241.Publication details: New York, NY : Library of America, 2013.Edition: First printingDescription: xvii, 679 pages ; 21 cmISBN:
  • 159853209X (hdb.)
  • 9781598532098 (hdb.)
Subject(s):
Contents:
Contents : The vixen (1996) -- The folding cliffs : a narrative (1998) -- The river sound (1999) -- The pupil (2001) -- Present company (2005) -- The shadow of Sirius (2008) -- New and uncollected poems 1993-2011 -- Chronology -- Note on the texts -- Notes -- Index of poem titles and first lines.
Summary: Oracular and elegant, W. S. Merwin's poetry reveals a heightened sense of what is essential to human consciousness: the fragile framing of nature, the mysteries of memory and perception, the inescapable fact of our mortality. In a career spanning seven decades- from his brilliant emergence as the winner of the Yale Younger Poets' Prize in 1952 to his recent term as U.S. Poet Laureate-he has fashioned a poetics unmistakably his own, marked by a stripped-down, unpunctuated style that foregrounds his responsiveness, spiritual insights, and facility with unadorned, elemental language. Now, with this two-volume edition, Merwin becomes only the second living poet to have his work collected by The Library of America. Here are such landmark books as his debut volume A Mask for Janus (1952), which shows the young poet engaged in a fruitful dialogue with Auden and Berryman; The Lice (1967), with its impassioned political poems about the Vietnam War and ecological catastrophe; The Vixen (1996), which offers vivid recollections of southwestern France; the epic verse novel The Folding Cliffs (2008), set in nineteenth-century Hawaii; and The Shadow of Sirius (2008), with its late poems / that are made of words / that have come the whole way / they have been there.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 811.54 M576 Available 33111007110949
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Here is the second volume in a definitive, career-spanning two-volume edition of the poems of the former U.S. Poet Laureate, which is also available as a deluxe boxed set, The Collected Poems of W. S. Merwin (described below).

Oracular and elegant, W. S. Merwin's poetry reveals a heightened sense of what is essential to human consciousness: the fragile framing of nature, the mysteries of memory and perception, the inescapable fact of our mortality. In a career spanning seven decades-- from his brilliant emergence as the winner of the Yale Younger Poets' Prize in 1952 to his recent term as U.S. Poet Laureate--he has fashioned a poetics unmistakably his own, marked by a stripped-down, unpunctuated style that foregrounds his responsiveness, spiritual insights, and facility with unadorned, elemental language. Now, with this two-volume edition, Merwin becomes only the second living poet to have his work collected by The Library of America. Here are such landmark books as his debut volume A Mask for Janus (1952), which shows the young poet engaged in a fruitful dialogue with Auden and Berryman; The Lice (1967), with its impassioned political poems about the Vietnam War and ecological catastrophe; The Vixen (1996), which offers vivid recollections of southwestern France; the epic verse novel The Folding Cliffs (2008), set in nineteenth-century Hawaii; and The Shadow of Sirius (2008), with its "late poems / that are made of words / that have come the whole way / they have been there."

LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

Contains works from collection from previous publications and includes : Contents, Chronology, Notes on texts, Notes and Index of poem titles and first lines.

Contents : The vixen (1996) -- The folding cliffs : a narrative (1998) -- The river sound (1999) -- The pupil (2001) -- Present company (2005) -- The shadow of Sirius (2008) -- New and uncollected poems 1993-2011 -- Chronology -- Note on the texts -- Notes -- Index of poem titles and first lines.

Oracular and elegant, W. S. Merwin's poetry reveals a heightened sense of what is essential to human consciousness: the fragile framing of nature, the mysteries of memory and perception, the inescapable fact of our mortality. In a career spanning seven decades- from his brilliant emergence as the winner of the Yale Younger Poets' Prize in 1952 to his recent term as U.S. Poet Laureate-he has fashioned a poetics unmistakably his own, marked by a stripped-down, unpunctuated style that foregrounds his responsiveness, spiritual insights, and facility with unadorned, elemental language. Now, with this two-volume edition, Merwin becomes only the second living poet to have his work collected by The Library of America. Here are such landmark books as his debut volume A Mask for Janus (1952), which shows the young poet engaged in a fruitful dialogue with Auden and Berryman; The Lice (1967), with its impassioned political poems about the Vietnam War and ecological catastrophe; The Vixen (1996), which offers vivid recollections of southwestern France; the epic verse novel The Folding Cliffs (2008), set in nineteenth-century Hawaii; and The Shadow of Sirius (2008), with its late poems / that are made of words / that have come the whole way / they have been there.

J. D. McClatchy, editor, is the author of seven collections of poems, three books of prose, and thirteen original libretti performed around the world. He has edited numerous works, including editions of the poetry of James Merrill and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He teaches at Yale University, where he is the editor of the Yale Review.

William Stanley Merwin is an American poet, credited with over fifty 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.

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