The New Yorker: Poetry James Richardson Reads W. S. Merwin
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Oct 16, 2014 Poet James Richardson and host Paul Muldoon discuss W. S. Merwin's 'A Single Autumn,' reflecting on themes of memory and loss. They explore Merwin's unique style and the transformative power of poetry, emphasizing openness to new ideas and interpretations.
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Richardson's Longstanding Merwin Affinity
- Richardson first read Merwin decades ago in The New Yorker and returned repeatedly, finding poems that aim to be "essential."
- He describes Merwin's poems as almost anonymous: "a poem that anybody could have written except only he could have."
Merwin's Quest For An Uncaused Voice
- W. S. Merwin's poems aim for an essential, almost anonymous voice that feels both specific and universally available.
- James Richardson calls this temperament a wish to be "uncaused," like Adam and Eve moving forward after everything behind them is lost.
Ending Reconfigures The Whole Poem
- The poem's final line reframes the entire piece, turning localized domestic detail into a meditation on vanishing and freedom.
- Richardson says once you hear the ending, earlier specifics read as part of what the poem is dismissing.