Poetry Magazine
Separation
W. S. Merwin, “Separation” from The Second Four Books of Poems (Port Townsend, Washington: Copper Canyon Press, 1993). Copyright © 1993 by W. S. Merwin. Reprinted with the permission of The Wylie Agency, Inc.
Source: Poetry (January 1962).
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This poem originally appeared in the January 1962 issue of Poetry magazine
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Biography
W.S. Merwin is a major American writer whose poetry, translations, and prose have won praise since W.H. Auden awarded his first book, A Mask for Janus (1952), the Yale Younger Poets Prize. Though that first book reflected the formalism of the period, Merwin eventually became known for an impersonal, open style that eschewed punctuation. Writing in the Guardian, Jay Parini described Merwin’s mature style as “his own kind of free . . .
Poems by W. S. Merwin
Poem Categorization
SUBJECT Living, Relationships, Sorrow & Grieving, Love, Separation & Divorce, Romantic Love, Realistic & Complicated
Poetic Terms Epigram, Free Verse, Simile, Elegy
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