Merrill, James 1985
Vintage poster of James Merrill’s reading at the Poetry Center of Chicago.
The hand with a seagull purpose falls upon
Sand where the beach is barren: through clean light
From eye’s blue zenith, past seascapes of blue,
Falls on grey sand; yet stenciled in its fall
– James Merrill, “Accumulations of the Sea”
Listen to James Merrill read some of his poetry at the 1969 Glascock Poetry Contest:
The boatman rowed into
That often-sung impasse.
Each visitor foreknew
A floor of lilting glass,
A vault of stone, lit blue.
– James Merrill, “The Blue Grotto”
Read an interview with James Merrill from the Paris Review:
The Art of Poetry No. 31
Courtesy Rollie Mckenna Collection. My first glimpse of James Merrill, a dozen years ago, was in black and white. It was a photograph of him, in the Brinnin and Read anthology called The Modern Poets. He had just turned toward the camera-his mouth slightly open, as if not expecti…
