The Second Four Books of Poems: The Moving Target / The Lice / The Carrier of Ladders / Writings to an Unfinished Accompaniment

Rating:
Summary: If looking to define the feeling haunting you, read on.
Review: I suggest reading on, because I have a small but appropriate few sentences to write about Merwin. I first came across Merwin when I was assigned to find a poet I liked who was still living for a poetry class. That is to say, not living for my poetry class in particular, but, a poet still alive, so my known favorites, Solomon of the Superlative Song, William Morris, Eugene Fields or Henry W. Longfellow, writers of, among other things nursey rhymes from my chldhood, nor John Keats fulfilled this alive requirement. As a result, I found myself looking to the song lyrics of the 60s and 70s I'd listened to growing up, my father being a pseudo-hippie, him not knowing that I was actually listening to the words. I say this because it is precisely this music which encouraged me to look into poetry. Unfortunately, my professor was not about to accept song lyrics from Jethro Tull or Queen, though members of the bands might still be living, which was good for me, or I never would have discovered Merwin. It was the first time I opened a book of poetry and found what I was feeling written the way I thought. Suddenly whatever feelings merely drifting at the edges of my subconscious which I had no real way of dealing with were right there on the page before me as though someone had read my mind. It was not eerie, at all, either -- it was just like being an adolescent and literally feeling one's feelings being relayed by rock and roll, or any kind of music for all the world to hear, and glad someone finally understood and was on your side. And so you go out and buy the tape, becasue it's like hearing a good friend's voice, perhaps one that relieves you of tension, or helps you formulate thoughts on the order of the world and your place in things, a friend to reassure and support you. That's what these poems are like, friends that you can read again and again, and be reassured that there is someone out there who understands you, and who can voice what you are thinking when you can't, and these revelations you can keep to yourself, or more likely share with the world, for everyone should have such a friend.

Rating:
Summary: "We were not born to survive, only to live." --Merwin
Review: Merwin touches the universal with specifics. Merwin's book bears a simplicity lacking in much of what we do today. His word choice in these poems rarely indicates they were written in the 1970's, but the style is poignantly modern nonetheless. As subjects, Merwin takes nature, aging and friendships. He peppers these with haunting feelings of hollowness, biblical allusions, and the occasional phrase that I cannot reconcile to the poems containing it. With Merwin, though, I remains content and know that a little ambiguity at the edges will keep me returning to the poem year after year.

Rating:
Summary: "We were not born to survive, only to live." --Merwin
Review: Merwin touches the universal with specifics. Merwin's book bears a simplicity lacking in much of what we do today. His word choice in these poems rarely indicates they were written in the 1970's, but the style is poignantly modern nonetheless. As subjects, Merwin takes nature, aging and friendships. He peppers these with haunting feelings of hollowness, biblical allusions, and the occasional phrase that I cannot reconcile to the poems containing it. With Merwin, though, I remains content and know that a little ambiguity at the edges will keep me returning to the poem year after year.

Rating:
Summary: very thought provoking
Review: this book was like merwin pouring his heart and soul onto paper, evoked emotions and memories of long ago!