W.S. Merwin (1927–2019) was an acclaimed American poet and translator known for his spare style and environmental concerns. After graduating from Princeton, he worked as a tutor and translator, later becoming a playwright and poetry editor. Merwin's career took off with A Mask for Janus (1952), earning him the Yale Series of Younger Poets award. His work evolved from lyrical and philosophical narratives to expressing despair over environmental mistreatment in The Lice (1967). Later, Merwin won Pulitzer Prizes for The Carrier of Ladders (1970) and The Shadow of Sirius (2008). His translations spanned from Euripides to Dante. Merwin's memoirs included Summer Doorways (2006), and he explored his connection to Hawaii in The Folding Cliffs (1998). He transformed a former pineapple plantation into a palm tree conservancy, documented in What Is a Garden? (2015). Merwin served as a poet laureate from 2010 to 2011.

What is W.S. Merwin known for?

W.S. Merwin (1927–2019) was an American poet and translator, noted for his spare poetic style and his deep concern for the environment. Merwin's career took off with his first poetry collection, A Mask for Janus (1952). His work often expressed his despair over humanity's mistreatment of creation, a theme evident in The Lice (1967). Later, his poetry shifted towards more positive themes, including love, nature, and memories, as seen in The Rain in the Trees (1988) and Garden Time (2016). Besides poetry, Merwin translated works from multiple languages and wrote memoirs. Living in Haiku, Hawaii, from 1977, he restored a former pineapple plantation into a palm tree collection, now protected by the Merwin Conservancy .

What are some common themes in Merwin's poetry?

W.S. Merwin, an American poet and translator, is known for his spare style and his deep concern for the alienation of humans from their environment. Common themes in Merwin's poetry include: * Environmental Concerns His work often expresses despair over humanity's mistreatment of the natural world. The Lice (1967) particularly highlights this theme. * Exploration of Place Travels (1993) demonstrates the potential for both danger and discovery in unfamiliar settings. * Memory and Mortality In his later years, Merwin explored personal childhood memories and universal themes like mortality, especially evident in The Shadow of Sirius (2008) and Garden Time (2016).

How did Merwin's early life influence his writing?

W.S. Merwin (1927–2019) was an American poet and translator known for his spare style. His poetry often expressed concerns about the alienation of humans from their environment. Merwin's memoirs, such as Summer Doorways (2006), reflect on his early days at Princeton and abroad, offering insights into his formative experiences. His novel-in-verse, The Folding Cliffs (1998), reflects his interest in Hawaii, his longtime home, using characters to evoke the ravages of colonialism. These works, along with poems exploring personal childhood memories, suggest that his early life experiences and abiding interests significantly influenced his writing.

What awards or honors did W.S. Merwin receive for his poetry?

W.S. Merwin, a celebrated American poet, received numerous awards and honors for his work. His debut collection, A Mask for Janus (1952), was chosen by W.H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets award. He won a Pulitzer Prize for The Carrier of Ladders (1970) and another for The Shadow of Sirius (2008). Merwin's Migration: New and Selected Poems (2005) earned him the National Book Award. In 1994, he received the Academy of American Poets' Tanning Prize. He served as a special poetry consultant to the Library of Congress from 1999 to 2000 and as poet laureate from 2010 to 2011.

How did Merwin’s interest in the environment shape his later work?

W.S. Merwin's deep concern for the environment significantly shaped his later poetry. His collection The Lice (1967) vividly portrays his despair over humanity's mistreatment of creation. This concern evolved into a more positive approach in The Compass Flower (1977) and Finding the Islands (1982), with The Rain in the Trees (1988) receiving praise for its realistic love poems. Merwin's commitment to environmentalism is also evident in his personal life. In 1977, he bought a pineapple plantation in Haiku, Maui, and transformed it into a sustainable palm tree collection, which he documented in What Is a Garden? (2015).

W.S. Merwin

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W.S. Merwin summary

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In full:: William Stanley Merwin

Born:: September 30, 1927, New York, New York, U.S.

Died:: March 15, 2019, Haiku, Hawaii (aged 91)

Title / Office:: poet laureate (2010-2011)

Awards And Honors:: Pulitzer Prize (2009); National Book Award (2005); Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (1998); Bollingen Prize (1979); Pulitzer Prize (1971)

W.S. Merwin

American poet and translator

Also known as: William Stanley Merwin

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Sep. 26, 2026 •History

Top Questions

Who was W.S. Merwin?
W.S. Merwin (1927–2019) was an acclaimed American poet and translator known for his spare style and environmental concerns. After graduating from Princeton, he worked as a tutor and translator, later becoming a playwright and poetry editor.

Merwin's career took off with A Mask for Janus (1952), earning him the Yale Series of Younger Poets award. His work evolved from lyrical and philosophical narratives to expressing despair over environmental mistreatment in The Lice (1967). Later, Merwin won Pulitzer Prizes for The Carrier of Ladders (1970) and The Shadow of Sirius (2008).

His translations spanned from Euripides to Dante. Merwin's memoirs included Summer Doorways (2006), and he explored his connection to Hawaii in The Folding Cliffs (1998). He transformed a former pineapple plantation into a palm tree conservancy, documented in What Is a Garden? (2015). Merwin served as a poet laureate from 2010 to 2011.
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1. W.S. Merwin
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What is W.S. Merwin known for?
W.S. Merwin (1927–2019) was an American poet and translator, noted for his spare poetic style and his deep concern for the environment.

Merwin's career took off with his first poetry collection, A Mask for Janus (1952). His work often expressed his despair over humanity's mistreatment of creation, a theme evident in The Lice (1967). Later, his poetry shifted towards more positive themes, including love, nature, and memories, as seen in The Rain in the Trees (1988) and Garden Time (2016).

Besides poetry, Merwin translated works from multiple languages and wrote memoirs. Living in Haiku, Hawaii, from 1977, he restored a former pineapple plantation into a palm tree collection, now protected by the Merwin Conservancy.
1 Britannica Source
1. W.S. Merwin
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What are some common themes in Merwin's poetry?
W.S. Merwin, an American poet and translator, is known for his spare style and his deep concern for the alienation of humans from their environment.

Common themes in Merwin's poetry include:
* Environmental Concerns His work often expresses despair over humanity's mistreatment of the natural world. The Lice (1967) particularly highlights this theme.
* Exploration of Place Travels (1993) demonstrates the potential for both danger and discovery in unfamiliar settings.
* Memory and Mortality In his later years, Merwin explored personal childhood memories and universal themes like mortality, especially evident in The Shadow of Sirius (2008) and Garden Time (2016).
1 Britannica Source
1. W.S. Merwin
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How did Merwin's early life influence his writing?
W.S. Merwin (1927–2019) was an American poet and translator known for his spare style. His poetry often expressed concerns about the alienation of humans from their environment.

Merwin's memoirs, such as Summer Doorways (2006), reflect on his early days at Princeton and abroad, offering insights into his formative experiences. His novel-in-verse, The Folding Cliffs (1998), reflects his interest in Hawaii, his longtime home, using characters to evoke the ravages of colonialism. These works, along with poems exploring personal childhood memories, suggest that his early life experiences and abiding interests significantly influenced his writing.
1 Britannica Source
1. W.S. Merwin
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What awards or honors did W.S. Merwin receive for his poetry?
W.S. Merwin, a celebrated American poet, received numerous awards and honors for his work. His debut collection, A Mask for Janus (1952), was chosen by W.H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets award. He won a Pulitzer Prize for The Carrier of Ladders (1970) and another for The Shadow of Sirius (2008).

Merwin's Migration: New and Selected Poems (2005) earned him the National Book Award. In 1994, he received the Academy of American Poets' Tanning Prize. He served as a special poetry consultant to the Library of Congress from 1999 to 2000 and as poet laureate from 2010 to 2011.
2 Britannica Sources
1. W.S. Merwin
2. List of Poets Laureate of the United States
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How did Merwin’s interest in the environment shape his later work?
W.S. Merwin's deep concern for the environment significantly shaped his later poetry. His collection The Lice (1967) vividly portrays his despair over humanity's mistreatment of creation. This concern evolved into a more positive approach in The Compass Flower (1977) and Finding the Islands (1982), with The Rain in the Trees (1988) receiving praise for its realistic love poems.

Merwin's commitment to environmentalism is also evident in his personal life. In 1977, he bought a pineapple plantation in Haiku, Maui, and transformed it into a sustainable palm tree collection, which he documented in What Is a Garden? (2015).
1 Britannica Source
1. W.S. Merwin
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

W.S. Merwin (born September 30, 1927, New York, New York, U.S.—died March 15, 2019, Haiku, Hawaii) was an American poet and translator known for the spare style of his poetry, in which he expressed his concerns about the alienation of humans from their environment.

After graduating from Princeton University (B.A., 1947), Merwin worked as a tutor in Europe and as a freelance translator. He was playwright in residence at the Poet’s Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1956 to 1957 and poetry editor of The Nation (1962).

Critical acclaim for Merwin began with his first collection of poetry, A Mask for Janus (1952), which was selected for publication by W.H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets award. His early poems included both lyrical works and philosophical narratives based on myths and folk tales. His subsequent collections included Green with Beasts (1956), The Drunk in the Furnace (1960), and The Moving Target (1963). The poems of The Lice (1967) reflect the poet’s despair over human mistreatment of the rest of creation. Merwin won a Pulitzer Prize for The Carrier of Ladders (1970).

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The Compass Flower (1977) and Finding the Islands (1982) diverge into more positive territory, though many critics dismissed the love poems that heralded the change in tone as unsuccessful. The love poems in The Rain in the Trees (1988), however, were lauded as more realistic. Travels (1993) turns to the danger and discovery possible in an alien place, while The River Sound (1999) juxtaposes shorter poems in Merwin’s usual style with longer narrative pieces that experiment with rhyme. Migration: New and Selected Poems (2005), winner of the National Book Award, groups work from his earlier career with new verse to effectively trace the evolution of his style from structured to free-flowing. Merwin explored personal childhood memories as well as such universal themes as mortality in The Shadow of Sirius (2008), which earned a Pulitzer Prize. Much of his oeuvre was published by the Library of America (LOA) as the two-volume The Collected Poems of W.S. Merwin (2013). Merwin was only the second living writer to be so surveyed by the LOA. The Moon Before Morning (2014) contains poems exploring time and the beauty of nature. The poems in Garden Time (2016)—many of which focus on memories—were written as Merwin lost most of his eyesight.

Merwin’s translations, often done in collaboration with others, range from plays of Euripides and Federico García Lorca to the epics The Poem of the Cid and The Song of Roland to ancient and modern works from Chinese, Sanskrit, and Japanese. Translations of Dante Alighieri’s Purgatorio (2000) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (2001) won praise for their skillful adherence to the original language of the works. Selected Translations (2013) sampled widely from that body of work.

Merwin wrote several memoirs, including Summer Doorways (2006), a series of recollections from his youthful days at Princeton and abroad. In his novel-in-verse, The Folding Cliffs (1998), Merwin addressed an abiding interest in Hawaii, his longtime home, using the travails of a wide range of characters to evoke the ravages of colonialism. The poet had purchased a barren former pineapple plantation in Haiku, on Maui, in 1977. He slowly restored the land, using ecologically sustainable methods, and the property eventually hosted nearly 500 species of palm tree. The Merwin Conservancy, founded in 2010, endeavoured to create a database mapping and cataloguing the collection, which received permanent protection from the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust in 2014. Merwin documented his experiences creating and stewarding the collection in the volume What Is a Garden? (2015).

In 1994 he was awarded the first annual Tanning Prize from the Academy of American Poets for his “outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry.” From 1999 to 2000 Merwin served—with Rita Dove and Louise Glück—as special poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, which was celebrating its bicentennial. He served as poet laureate from 2010 to 2011. He was the subject of the documentary Even Though the Whole World Is Burning (2014).

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