Friday, July 02, 2010

the night of the shirts

So, as you probably know, W.S. Merwin is the new poet laureate. I’m not surprised. He’s won everything else but the Nobel Prize (which he should also win, as soon as possible). Making him poet laureate seems kind of superfluous. The first thing that came to my mind was that scene in "The Shining," where Jack Nicholson is told he’s always been the caretaker. In my mind, W.S. Merwin, too, has always been the caretaker. I'm a big Merwin admirer. He is a very serious man and a beautiful poet. (Jack Nicholson, on the other hand....)

6 comments:

Kathleen said...

Yay for Merwin. Alas, my bathroom is not shining.

Kass said...

What an analogy. Once again, the juxtaposition jangles in a good way.

Good for Merwin!

ArtSparker said...

I don't quite get the Jack Nicholson thing either. I think quite a few men I've known would like to have been him...

NE said...

So let's have three Merwin poems that are must reads (for us Merwin virgins).

SarahJane said...

NE - this is a good question. I will give it a deeper think, but off the top of my head - "Late Spring," "Departure's Girlfriend" and "Little Soul," which is a translation.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=177889

NE said...

Thanks! I'll attend to his poems in quieter moments (we've company and I only sneak looks at the computer).

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