The intentions of Merwins poetry are as broad as the biosphere yet asintimate as a whisper. He conveys in the sweet simplicity of grounded languagea sense of th... » 

The intentions of Merwins poetry are as broad as the biosphere yet asintimate as a whisper. He conveys in the sweet simplicity of grounded languagea sense of the self where it belongs floating between heaven earth andunderground.The Atlantic MonthlyW.S. Merwin is our strongest poet.The New York Times Review of BooksIn this new masterwork from one of Americas foremost poets W.S. Merwin guideshis readers to universal themes through worldly specifics. Akin to NerudasElemental Odes every poem in Present Company directly addresses the peopleand things of daily life as in To the Thief at the Airport or To LingeringRegrets.To This MayThey know so much more now aboutthe heart we are told but the worldstill seems to come one at a timeone day one year one season and hereit is spring once more with its birdsnesting in the holes in the wallsits morning finding the first timeits light pretending not to movealways beginning as it goesThese poems to the world are playful deadly serious and full of wonder.Whether writing of an unused vehicle in To Zbigniew Herberts Bicycle orwatching fireworks from a distance in To the Coming Winter Merwins poemscreate a rare and compelling intimacy. There is no one writing today like W.S.Merwin.Poet and translator W.S. Merwin has long been committed to artistic politicaland environmental causes in both word and deed. He has received nearly everymajor literary accolade including the Pulitzer Tanning Lannan and Bollingenprizes. His most recent award is the International Golden Wreath from theStruga Foundation a longstanding literary honorthat in its 70year historyhas been offered to only three Englishspeaking poets. W.S. Merwin lives inHawaii where he cultivates endangered palms. «