"Read junk. Read every kind of book. But read for pleasure."

W.S. Merwin has had no shortage of interviews in recent months, and that's most definitely a good thing. Our poet laureate has endless wisdom to share, and this time he meditates on his goals for his tenure as laureate and the joys of reading for the Progressive. Read up....and enjoy!

Q: You seem continually astonished by nature, love, and words. What else astonishes you?

Merwin: What else is there?

Q: Any advice?

Merwin: Yes, one important thing: Read for pleasure. Read junk. Read every kind of book. But read for pleasure. The reason the Puritans wanted to stamp out poetry was because it gave pleasure. It’s about things you love, things that you care about. Sir Philip Sidney, in the generation before Shakespeare, said, “Poetry begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” And it will never end in wisdom if it doesn’t begin in delight and continue in delight. When you read a poem and you think, “God, that is so beautiful, I don’t want to forget that,” and you go on saying it to yourself because you love it, that’s pleasure. That is real pleasure.