W.S. Merwin CD

1966. Introduced by Robert Lowell.

As Library Journal notes, W. S. Merwin is, on this recording, "captured at a crucial point in his career: his poetry was moving towards surrealism, his images becoming deeper; his comments on the writing process make this cassette a rare treat."

There are thirty-two poems in this historic recording, the majority of them from The Lice, in which the poet practiced his visionary mythmaking to great acclaim. This is an extraordinary documentation of Merwin's poetic powers.

Length: 48 min.

Track List

1. Introduction by Robert Lowell
2. To My Brother Hanson
3. Introduction to "Before That"
4. Before That
5. Introduction to "The Students of Justice"
6. The Students of Justice
7. Introduction to "My Friends"
8. My Friends
9. Daybreak
10. Introduction to "The Last One"
11. The Last One
12. Introduction to "The Wave"
13. The Wave
14. Introduction to two poems
15. The Hydra
16. A Debt
17. Introduction to "April"
18. April
19. Introduction to "The River of Bees"
20. The River of Bees
21. Introduction to "The Child"
22. The Child
23. Introduction to four poems
24. Dusk in Winter
25. Glimpse of the Ice
26. December Night
27. After the Solstice
28. Introduction to "The Dry Stone Mason"
29. The Dry Stone Mason
30. Introduction to two poems
31. The Herds
32. The Mourner
33. Introduction to three poems
34. The Dream Again
35. How We Are Spared
36. Provision
37. Introduction to "Watchers"
38. Watchers
39. Introduction to "In the Winter of My Thirty-Eighth Year"
40. In the Winter of My Thirty-Eighth Year
41. For the Anniversary of My Death
42. Introduction to "Come Back"
43. Come Back
44. Introduction to "My Brothers the Silent"
45. My Brothers the Silent
46. Looking for Mushrooms at Sunrise
47. Introduction to three poems
48. The Asians Dying
49. Inscription for a Prayer Wheel in an Empty Country
50. Avoiding News By the River
51. For a Coming Extinction