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Djelloul Marbrook's avatar

Much as I've read Merwin over a long period this is the first time that Emily Dickinson's daring word order came to mind. Another reason, perhaps, for thinking of a poem as a prism refracting light differently every time we study it.

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Michael T. Young's avatar

Yes, I can definitely see Dickinson running under the current of Merwin, especially in his innovative ways of controlling the movement of a poem, in syntax and punctuation or lack of.

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Djelloul Marbrook's avatar

When I read Merwin I feel like the song in his mind. I feel like the workings of his mind. It's an extraordinary experience.

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Michael T. Young's avatar

Yes, like hearing Mozart or Beethoven, one immediately knows the linguistic space one inhabits is Merwin's.

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Kevin Swanwick's avatar

Michael, this is marvelous. Thank you.

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Michael T. Young's avatar

Thank you for reading, Kevin.

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