When W.S. Merwin died on March 15, 2019, friends across the world shared remembrances. We have gathered them here.
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
Edward Hirsch remembers his long friendship with the late W. S. Merwin. https://t.co/QIATT0df66
— The Paris Review (@parisreview) March 15, 2019
Naomi Shihab Nye
Remembering W.S. Merwin, Honorary Texan https://t.co/N76y1zdwl1
— The Texas Observer (@TexasObserver) March 25, 2019
Bill McKibben
RIP W.S. Merwin, masterful poet, deep environmentalist, great friend, and a man connected to his planet like few others
— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) March 15, 2019
On the last day of the world
I would want to plant a tree
Terry Tempest Williams
The palms Merwin planted must be both weeping over his death and celebrating his life, as we are. Oh how I loved him https://t.co/L4feANa0bG
— TerryTempestWilliams (@TempestWilliams) March 15, 2019
Beloved William Merwin passed this morning. I am so deeply grateful for his friendship, his influence, his words and the poems he leaves us
— TerryTempestWilliams (@TempestWilliams) March 15, 2019
Dr. Hope Jahren
On the last day of the world, I would want to plant a tree,” is an oft-quoted line from W.S. Merwin’s poem, “Place.” He wrote leaves of poetry, but he also grew real trees, thousands of them, writes @HopeJahren. https://t.co/mDRg8XXsSy
— NYT Opinion (@nytopinion) March 19, 2019
Re: my piece in the @nytopinion. Please visit and/or become a supporter of the Merwin Conservancy.https://t.co/uxKjZMRqpz
— Hope Jahren (@HopeJahren) March 19, 2019
Tracy K. Smith
“Merwin’s death marks a terrible loss for poetry. But the largeness of his vision, and the fact that his work is so profound as to be inexhaustible, is an immense consolation.”
— Princeton Arts (@princetonarts) March 21, 2019
— Tracy K. Smithhttps://t.co/wW9RMA47L2
Jane Hirshfield
“William is sometimes described as a poet of the numinous and absence. But he was a poet of this world, which he loved, cultivated, and restored. The poems continue to hold it all, just as each planted tree in France and in Hawaii does.” —Jane Hirshfield https://t.co/0f2RrtZqk6 pic.twitter.com/0rK8pwLvY4
— Poets.org (@POETSorg) March 17, 2019
Christopher Merrill and Alice Quinn
“Who more than Merwin endowed the day with that seed? Who could possibly approach him as a sower of immortal images in our poetry, the sounds and scents of landscapes?” https://t.co/RUavoYNzbv
— The Paris Review (@parisreview) March 19, 2019
Carrie Fountain
The New Yorker
Here’s my remembrance of Merwin & his work @NewYorker: https://t.co/IyZDfPfnRi
— Kevin Young (@Deardarkness) March 20, 2019
The poems of W. S. Merwin’s mature career were often Delphic, haunted, and bleak. They seemed to have been delivered unto him, and he transcribed them by lightning flash. https://t.co/Z4biUog5VT
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) March 17, 2019
Kenyon Review
.@davidbakerpoet writes, “The breadth and generosity of his translations, his transcendent prose, his hope and hands-in-the-dirt ecological stewardship, his soulful presence: there is no greater example of what a poet is, to me, than William Merwin.”https://t.co/7MQ7QN0ESc
— Kenyon Review (@kenyonreview) March 16, 2019
Orion Magazine
All of us at Orion were saddened by the news of W.S. Merwin’s death. Merwin, who served as an advisor to Orion for many years, was a true friend to the magazine: https://t.co/rxTUBkLZXJ
— Orion Magazine (@Orion_Magazine) March 18, 2019
Alex Steffen
Though he is now gone from the world, W.S. Merwin remains one of America’s truly great poets—one whose words carried me through some of my darkest hours. pic.twitter.com/uxwAEeYgQ4
— Alex Steffen (@AlexSteffen) March 15, 2019
Susan Casey
We lost a giant today. Our beloved Maui friend and neighbor W.S. Merwin left us a surplus of beauty and wonder that will endure throughout time. Rest in peace with your beloved Paula, William. @merwincnsrvncy pic.twitter.com/0rSMHBBSV5
— susan casey (@caseymaui) March 15, 2019
Christopher Merrill
RIP W. S. Merwin: “I want to tell what the forests/ were like// I have to speak/in a forgotten language” Thank you for preserving and revitalizing that language.
— Christopher Merrill (@CLMerrill) March 15, 2019
Kevin Young
Saddened to hear of W.S. Merwin’s passing. He was one of the greats & one of my first poetry loves; got to interview him onstage a few years ago. The @NewYorker published over 200 of his poems over 70 years. Here’s a recent one: https://t.co/J7KGdM1BBS
— Kevin Young (@Deardarkness) March 15, 2019
Rachel Eliza Griffiths
Rachel Eliza Griffiths talks about the poetry she ripped out of magazines and carried around with her until it fell apart in her hands. https://t.co/AHU5tXvR4c
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) April 18, 2019
Nicole Chung
“with the cities growing over us
— Nicole Chung (@nicole_soojung) March 16, 2019
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
thank you we are saying and waving
dark though it is”
Merwin. <3 https://t.co/w28VPrVWCV
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.”
What an incredible life. Goodbye friend. pic.twitter.com/ItFMSrqQH0
— MWiegers (@MWiegers) March 15, 2019
Paul Holdengraber
R.I.P. W. S. MERWIN
— Paul Holdengraber (@holdengraber) March 16, 2019
‘There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend: one day, the black will swallow the red’
~ Mark Rothko pic.twitter.com/eygesbas3m
Stefan Schaefer
Kierán Suckling
W.S. Merwin (1927-2019)
— Kierán Suckling (@KieranSuckling) March 16, 2019
Have been dreading this day. Merwin was an extraordinary poet, naturalist & activist for peace, native rights and endangered species. Working with him several times has been a highlight of my years at @CenterForBioDiv. Goodbye friend.
(thread) pic.twitter.com/lZ8n6Y394r
Julianne Warren
“What you remember saves you. To remember
— ⌆ Julianne Warren ⌆ (@coyotetrail_) March 15, 2019
Is not to rehearse, but to hear what never
Has fallen silent…”–W.S. Merwin, “Learning a Dead Language”
He has given me so much to remember…
Summer Brennan
Dear W.S. Merwin, we are saying thank you. pic.twitter.com/GvXrUmG7O6
— Summer Brennan ?? (@summerbrennan) March 15, 2019
Jeffrey Brown
Great poet, great man: W.S. (William) Merwin. One of the most beautiful and inspiring days of my life, https://t.co/dmfrfyezW9 my wife and I walking through the palm reserve in Maui with William and his Paula. Love and gratitude to @wsmerwin and all @merwincnsrvncy
— Jeffrey Brown (@JeffreyBrown) March 16, 2019
Gregory Cowles
Unbearable to hear the Obits desk working the phones for W.S. Merwin. R.I.P.
— Gregory Cowles (@GregoryCowles) March 15, 2019
Seth Abrahmson
RIP, W.S. Merwin. One of the Greats. https://t.co/QxSIENrb4h
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 16, 2019
Point Reyes Books
Powell’s Books
“Poetry is a way of looking at the world for the first time.” – W. S. Merwin (1927-2019). Merwin, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, was also a practicing Buddhist who spent his last years restoring a Hawaiian rainforest. We are grateful for all the beauty he brought into this world. pic.twitter.com/9IxrEQQUfw
— Powell’s Books (@Powells) March 19, 2019
PBS NewsHour
W.S. Merwin, a prolific and versatile poetry master who evolved through a wide range of styles as he celebrated nature, condemned war and industrialism and reached for the elusive past, died Friday at the age of 91.
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) March 15, 2019
Learn more: https://t.co/gKYwbaSscr pic.twitter.com/pVN4Kxqqd8
Poetry Foundation
We are saddened by W.S. Merwin’s passing. Spend time reflecting on his legacy in this collection of his work. https://t.co/oSBZ8EGMbc pic.twitter.com/tSlRefCAcx
— Poetry Foundation (@PoetryFound) March 15, 2019
Copper Canyon Press
Rest in peace W.S. MERWIN (1927-2019)—beloved poet, dear friend. pic.twitter.com/LlqWwTjiWi
— Copper Canyon Press (@CopperCanyonPrs) March 15, 2019
The Library of America
“The Proteus of American Poets: W.S. Merwin,” 1927–2017
PEN America
Rest in peace, W.S. Merwin. pic.twitter.com/kOYxoxrvw1
— PEN America (@PENamerican) March 15, 2019
Lit Hub
This is an enormous loss. RIP, W.S. Merwin, who died today at 91.
— Literary Hub (@lithub) March 15, 2019
https://t.co/u8kGL33JwB
The Paris Review
Rest in peace, W. S. Merwin.
— The Paris Review (@parisreview) March 15, 2019
Read our 1987 interview with the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, who passed away earlier today at the age of 91: https://t.co/1Qj1G0XkqD pic.twitter.com/EMNoGPxYT2
The New York Times
The poet W.S. Merwin has died at 91. His verse, marked by dissolution and absence, won him two Pulitzers and a National Book Award. https://t.co/pgT4uxcN16
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 16, 2019
The Guardian
WS Merwin, Pulitzer-winning former US poet laureate, dies at 91 https://t.co/vnyNRPz2D9
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 16, 2019
Los Angeles Times
W.S. Merwin was the first poet I ever loved. I wrote a remembrance of him for the Los Angeles Times: https://t.co/RCrcdppb4y
— Michael Schaub (@michaelschaub) March 18, 2019
The Washington Post
My obit for W.S. Merwin, whose poems about the fragility of the natural world and the horrors of the Vietnam War earned him two Pulitzer Prizes and made him one of the preeminent English-language poets of the past five decades: https://t.co/OD5GVYBMTZ
— Harrison Smith (@harrisondsmith) March 15, 2019
Hawai‘i Public Radio
W.S. Merwin: Poet Laureate, Chronicler of Hawai’i History Dies at 91 https://t.co/Ff2y1AUTri
— Hawaii Public Radio (@wearehpr) March 15, 2019
Douglass St.Christian says
I met WS Merwin about 52 years ago, at age 14, with his book, The Lice. His has been a voice that has, over those 52 years, taught me how to understand and engage with the world in ways that I am still learning and re-learning. His death is a sad moment in a long and glorious life, a life for which thank you can
never be enough. I am who I am today, at 66, in so many diverse ways, because of the long companionship of Merwins life and vision.
Virginia Beck says
When the tall trees fall, only the trees and the friends of trees notice the absence, the space where the sky now fills a whole world of song, silence, and the love of all that lives.
Remember, he planted not only trees, but seeds of love for all that lives or grows….the entire green kingdom inside of each one of us.
Aloha Oe
Laurie Norman says
And on the next day, I am inspired to plant a tree.
Mahalo for your many gifts, lessons and the Majestic Palm Forest you have left us!
Ann Jones says
I never look at the magic of the West Maui Mountains, especially after a rain in their lushness, and don’t think of Mr. Merwin’s description: The Folding Cliffs. He was a beautiful gift to us all. God speed.
Jane Sherwin says
I would like to recall WS Merwin’s “The Lost Upland,” in which his stories of Fatty, the shifty Comte d’Allers, and Blackbird the wine merchant are joined with the stories of shepherds in stony rural France. Over the years these stories come back to me again and again. “Have you read about Fatty’s theft of foie gras? Have you read about Blackbird’s life with wine?” I ask my friends. How grateful I am for these gifts from WS Merwin.
Carol Wilcox says
There is a bright red cardinal who this morning is thinking….
Strange that now there should be no sign of you
visible on the dusty way between
the shadows where the morning light comes through
…
To Lili’s Walk, W.S. Merwin
Marion Patterson says
In the 1970’s, I was inspired in my creative photography by William’s poetry and back then was searching for a way to contact him. At the Rocky Mountain Dharma Center, I placed my meditation cushion down at random. Came back to find the person sitting directly in front of me was William. Karma? Certainly the beginning of a long friendship. A year ago I sat with William, reminiscing. It seemed a time beyond time, a blessing and a completion. William has been and always will be a companion on my path.
Aleta Okada says
I am sure that now he can see again… Paula, holding his hand once again as they watch over their garden.
Such sadness for the rest of us.
Barbara Ras says
A great poet has left us, and no one can replicate his poems. A great conscience has left us as well. I can only hope to follow his example in caring for the world. Goodbye, William, cherished spirit.