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W. S. (William Stanley) Merwin

W. S. Merwin, American poet and translator, was born in New York City. After graduating from Princeton in 1948 (where he studied with the poets John Berryman and R. P. Blackmur), he traveled in Europe, studying

Variation on a Theme

by W. S. (William Stanley) Merwin (1927–2019)

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9      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">1927</date>
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15

Thank you my life long afternoon
late in this spring that has no age
my window above the river
for the woman you led me to
when it was time at last the words
coming to me out of mid-air
that carried me through the clear day
and come even now to find me
for old friends and echoes of them

Click here for complete poem

Poets Book of Days

March 19

William Allingham born, 1824

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Poetry Trivia

Question:

What was Alexander Pope's famous advice to aspiring poets?

Answer

"Keep your piece nine years." The advice appears in the "Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot," where Pope bemoans the many poetasters who seek his advice on their poems. This mirrors the advice given by Horace in his "Ars Poetica."

Previous Trivia Questions

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