The Merwin Conservancy

Inspiring innovation in the arts and sciences by advancing the ideas of W.S. Merwin

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Remembering William Stanley Merwin, 1927 – 2019

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Photo by Tom Sewell

It is with great sadness and an abiding reverence that we say goodbye to W.S. Merwin, a true master in the art of poetry and a profound ecologist. Beyond the extraordinary legacies of his poetic and botanical achievements, William has left us all deeply inspired to make the world around us a better place through word and deed, and to see and preserve the natural world as the exquisite poem it is.

The tributes and outpouring of love we are witnessing as the news of W.S. Merwin’s death spreads around the world are both inspiring and comforting. While we mourn the loss of our dear friend William, we come together to nurture the organization that he founded with his wife Paula. It brings us joy to read your tributes, reflect on their meanings, and – as we collect many of these responses in one place to share with you all – we hope you feel it, too.

Please add your own remembrances in the comments at the bottom of this page.

President Barack Obama

“I’ve drawn inspiration from Merwin’s writing because it teaches us about ourselves, our world, and how we as humans connect to nature. Most of us don’t spend a lot of time on poetry but Merwin’s death reminded me of how a good poem can inspire and instruct.”

Edward Hirsch

Naomi Shihab Nye

Bill McKibben

Terry Tempest Williams

Dr. Hope Jahren

Tracy K. Smith

Jane Hirshfield

Christopher Merrill and Alice Quinn

Carrie Fountain

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One preoccupation I’ve had as my publisher begins identifying potential illustrators for The Poem Forest, my forthcoming children’s book, is that we find an artist with the ability to capture Mr. Merwin’s distinctive, beautiful face. As @nshihab2018 pointed out to me, in each stage of his long life, Mr Merwin’s face was expressive, captivating, and unique in its beauty and openness. I don’t have the words to express my feelings about Mr. Merwin’s work and legacy. So instead, here are some of my favorite photos of his face. I offer these as a celebration of the man who was, until yesterday, our greatest living American poet. We are lucky to live on and make art in his legacy. #wsmerwin #wsmerwinlegacy #merwinconservancy #americanpoetry #poetlaureate #palmtrees #maui #poetry

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The New Yorker

Kenyon Review

Orion Magazine

Alex Steffen

Susan Casey

Christopher Merrill

Kevin Young

Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Nicole Chung

Michael Wiegers

“While we have lost a tremendous friend, the loss to American poetry is even more profound. From the stylistic inventions he introduced to the catalyzing force of his work in translation and international poetics, his influence on American poetry has been without equal.”

Paul Holdengraber

Stefan Schaefer

Kierán Suckling

Julianne Warren

Summer Brennan

Jeffrey Brown

Gregory Cowles

Seth Abrahmson

Point Reyes Books

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Powell’s Books

PBS NewsHour

Poetry Foundation

Copper Canyon Press

The Library of America

“The Proteus of American Poets: W.S. Merwin,” 1927–2017

PEN America

Lit Hub

The Paris Review

The New York Times

The Guardian

Los Angeles Times

The Washington Post

Hawai‘i Public Radio

Hawaiian Islands Land Trust

More tributes to come….

Click on any image below to open up a full screen slideshow retrospective of W.S. Merwin’s life. Photos by friends Tom Sewell and Larry Cameron, among others.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. TO A VOICE

    “…the world we
    cling to in common is
    burning…”
    —W. S. Merwin

    When his breath lifted
    you toward us we listened
    to the green music
    of wind-blown island palms
    its thresh and flutter mingling with
    his measured native sounds
    lending them a fresh
    richness that strangeness
    without which beauty is not
    made perfect

    how did you learn to
    bear it all his keen outrage
    at the shamelessness
    of men and his pleasure
    in the presence of animals
    and his joy in late love
    all in words you brought
    words ours and not ours
    as they were and were not his
    all those years

    now his breath’s slipped back
    into the world’s breath but you
    bring the words and we
    speak them and feel his breath
    braiding with ours until we know
    he is gone and not gone
    know that thanks to you
    the palm-leaf sounds thrive
    in us and the burning world
    touches us

    through the living words