Present Company

ISBN: 1556592272

Author: Merwin, W.S.

Condition: Used

The intentions of Merwins poetry are as broad as the biosphere yet as intimate as a whisper. He conveys in the sweet simplicity of grounded language a sense of the self where it belongs, floating between heaven, earth, and underground.-The Atlantic MonthlyW.S. Merwin is our strongest poet.-The New York Times Review of BooksIn this new masterwork from one of Americas foremost poets, W.S. Merwin guides his readers to universal themes through worldly specifics. Akin to Nerudas Elemental Odes, every poem in Present Company directly addresses the people and things of daily life, as in To the Thief at the Airport or To Lingering Regrets.To This MayThey know so much more now aboutthe heart we are told but the worldstill seems to come one at a timeone day one year one season and hereit is spring once more with its birdsnesting in the holes in the wallsits morning finding the first timeits light pretending not to movealways beginning as it goesThese poems to the world are playful, deadly serious, and full of wonder. Whether writing of an unused vehicle in To Zbigniew Herberts Bicycle or watching fireworks from a distance in To the Coming Winter, Merwins poems create a rare and compelling intimacy. There is no one writing today like W.S. Merwin.Poet and translator W.S. Merwin has long been committed to artistic, political, and environmental causes in both word and deed. He has received nearly every major literary accolade, including the Pulitzer, Tanning, Lannan, and Bollingen prizes. His most recent award is the International Golden Wreath from the Struga Foundation, a longstanding literary honor that, in its 70-year history, has been offered to only three English-speaking poets. W.S. Merwin lives in Hawaii, where he cultivates endangered palms.