This guy was a flat-out fucking genius. Between this and Sandover, how is he not the main figure in 20th century English-language poetry?
Post poems
>>25176322Here's one of his shorter poems (out of hundreds, mind you) and an AI-generated explanation of its meaning, since I have to go to sleep soon:>Think Tank>Because our young were drab>And slow to grow, for>Carnival we ate them,>Pennants of motley>distancing the deed>In the dechlorinated>crystal slab.>The harlequin all grace>and greed>Made glancing mincemeat>of the mirror kissed.>The scholar blotched with>ich>Sank into lonely>shudderings.>But at our best we were>of one mind,>Did our own sick or vital>things>Within a medium secured>by trick>Reflections over which,>day, night, the Braille>Eraser glided of the>Snail>Our Servant, huge and>blind. AI's explanation:>The poem uses the metaphor of a fish tank (a "think tank") to allegorize the creative process in poetry: initial ideas ("our young") are devoured in revision (like during Carnival), with figures like a graceful harlequin (perhaps playful inspiration or criticism) and a blotched scholar (the pondering poet) interacting in a confined, reflective space. The "Snail Our Servant" suggests slow, blind, ongoing erasure and refinement—tying into themes of self-editing, the interplay between creation and critique, and a contained mind at work. It appears in Merrill's Collected Poems (2001 edition, p. 415).">The 'harlequin' is a direct reference to a commedia dell'arte character, which is a double-entendre with the actual harlequin fish. 'Glancing mincemeat' is a both a literal reference to a harlequin fish darting at its own imagine in a reflective surface, and a metaphorical callback to the old harlequinade, in which the harlequin character would end up bashing against his diminished and stupider doppelgänger in the form of the clown.>The following image presented is ichthyophthirius, a fish disease. The 'scholar' in this case may be seen as a kind of evolved form of the greedy impulsive harlequin, which humbled itself in the previous lines by foolishly smashing into its own image and gaining nothing but woe. 'Medium' is a double entendre referencing both a fluid (such as the tank's water) by which action is mediated, as well as a spiritual guide.
>>25176339>poet is praised by LLM using fagThat's one way to disqualify somebody
>>25176318>how is he not the main figure in 20th century English-language poetryearlier poets (yeats, eliot, pound) simply had more influence, same deal with other postwar poets (ashbery, o'hara, olson) but Merrill is kino. The Changing Light at Sandover was revelatory to me when I first read it, had no idea something like that was possible in poetry>>25176339>AI explanationPlease be serious>>25176322Here's one of my favs>"A Renewal">Having used every subterfuge>To shake you, lies, fatigue, or even that of passion,>Now I see no way but a clean break.>I add that I am willing to bear the guilt.>You nod assent. Autumn turns windy, huge,>A clear vase of dry leaves vibrating on and on.>We sit, watching. When I next speak>Love buries itself in me, up to the hilt.
