An Ecological Study of Selected Poems by W. S. Merwin
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31973/aj.v1i148.4180Keywords:
deforestation, ecology, ecopoetry, ecosystem, endangered speciesAbstract
The American poet W. S. Merwin (1927-2019) is one of the most important enthusiastic ecopoets. He protests against the maladies of modem life which viciously damage our environmental health and causes imbalance in the ecosystem. Merwin makes man aware of the consequences of being out of the natural order, and of making the ecosystem vulnerable to collapse. His ecologically-minded poetry, which is rich with the sublimities of the landscape, profoundly influences man's ideas about the relation with the other natural creatures, to bridge the gap between man and the Mother earth. He helps man perceive his proper place in the natural order. Industrialization and urbanization toxify man's bodies and environment. Besides, political crises and wars lead to ecological disasters. The poet artistically embodies these unnatural devastations which threaten the whole planet. His poetry is a call to maintain endangered species of plants and animals. Not only his poetry but also his life are dedicated to protect wilderness which is essential to preserve the human life. Most of his ecological poems spring from the Hawaiian rain forest for which Merwin was fighting to preserve.
Downloads
References
Al-Bahadili, Z. R., AL-Hamdani, A. A. S., Rashid, F. A., Al-Zubaidi, L. A., & Ibrahim, S. M. (2022). An Evaluation of the Activity of Prepared Zinc Nanoparticles with Extracted Alfalfa Plant in the Treatment of Heavy Metals. Baghdad Science Journal, 19(6(Suppl.), 1399. https://doi.org/10.21123/bsj.2022.7313
Ali, Sabah Atallah Khalifa & Zaid Ibrahim Ismael. (2019). Barbara Kingsolver: Evaluating Her Contribution to the Eco-Feminist Novel. Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences. Special Issue of the 7th Scientific Conference: 65-82.
Almaaeny, J. (2018). Evaluating of Indirect Solar Dryer Efficient Performance and its Impact on Some Medical Plants Activity. Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 49(3). https://doi.org/10.36103/ijas.v49i3.104
Alzurfi, S. K. L., Motar, A. A., & Sharba, F. Y. J. (2019). The Competition between of invasive Hydrilla verticillata L.f. and native Ceratophyllum demersum L. in monocultures and mixed cultures experimental. Iraqi Journal of Science, 60(9), 1933–1947. https://doi.org/10.24996/ijs.2019.60.9.6
Altieri, Charles. (1987).W.S. Merwin: Essay on the Poetry. Edited by Cary Nelson and Ed Folsome. The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
Arigo, Christopher. Notes Toward an Ecopoetics: Revising the Postmodern Sublime and Juliana Spahr’s This Connection of Everyone with Lungs. Retreived from https://www.asu.edu/pipercwcenter/how2journal/vol_3_no_2/ecopoetics/essays/arigo.html.
Brass, Jerry, A Review of W. S. Merwin's "The River Sound." https://www.richmondreview.co.uk/riversou/
Byers, Thomas B. (1989). What I Cannot Say: Self, Word, and World in Whitman, Stevens, and Merwin. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Challab, Hussein Kadhum. (2022). The Discussion of Language and Poetry in A.R. Ammons's Garbage. In Journal of the College of Languages. No. 46: 36-79.
Cep, Casey. "The Palm Trees and Poetry of W. S. Merwin." Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-palm-trees-and-poetry-of-w-s-merwin.
Christhilf, Mark. (1986). W. S. Merwin The Mythmaker. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
Davis, Cheri. (1981). W. S. Merwin. Boston: Twayne Publishers.
Dunlap, Susan. The Oral Tradition of W.S. Merwin. (March 16, 2019). Retrieved from https://www.lionsroar.com/about-a-poem-susan-dunlap-on-w-s-merwins-vixen-january-2011/.
Durand, Marcella. (2002). The Ecology of Poetry. Ecopoetics 2: 58-62.
Farajallah, N. Z., & Lewis, A. J. (2021). Australian Unity in Judith Wright’s Selected Ecopoems. Al-Adab Journal, 3(137), 67–80. https://doi.org/10.31973/aj.v3i137.1666
Frazier, Jane. (Spring/Summer 1997). Lost Origins: W. S. Merwin's Poems of Division. Volume 14,2. Retrieved from https://weberstudies.weber.edu/archive/archive%20B%20Vol.%2011-16.1/Vol.%2014.2/14.2Frazier.htm.
Geng, Jiyong. (October 2012). Zen Buddhism in W. S. Merwin's Ecological Poems. Foreign Literature Studies 34(5):101-108. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298436619_Zen_Buddhism_in_W_S_Merwin's_Ecological_Poems.
Gordon, Ian B. (1972). For a Coming Extinction. Modern Poetry Studies 3.3. Retrieved from https://www.modernamericanpoetry.org/criticism/ian-b-gordon-coming-extinction.
Hammoud, H. A. (2021). Assessment of Heavy Metals Pollution in Sediment of Shatt Al-Hilla by Using Ecological Indices. Iraqi Journal of Science, 58(3C), 1609–1616. Retrieved from https://ijs.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/eijs/article/view/5787
Hirsch, Edward. (Spring, 1987). W. S. Merwin, The Art of Poetry. No. 38. Issue 102. Retrieved from https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2692/the-art-of-poetry-no-38-w-s-merwin
Hix, H. L. (1997). Understanding W. S. Merwin. Columbia, S. C.: University of South Carolina Press.
Imada, Lee. (Sep 17, 2017). Merwin's Garden. Retrieved from https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2017/09/merwins-garden/.
Sheriiff, H. A. & Delool, R. A. (2001). A Comparative Study of Ecological and Genetical Adaptation of Three Iraqi Fresh Water Snails in Respect to Heavy Metal Pollution. Bulletin of the Iraq Natural History Museum 9 (3).https://jnhm.uobaghdad.edu.iq/index.php/BINHM/article/view/194/168
Italie, Hillil. (March 16, 2019). W.S. Merwin, prize-winning poet of nature, dies at 91. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/article/6bd3234fa9494d51baeae6a9c4cd7431.
Khalid, Najwa Abdulkareem. (2021). Cultural Ecofeminism in Pat Mora's Poetry: The Desert as "Curandera." Al-Adab Journal. No. 136 (March): 107-120.
Merwin, W. S. (1997). Flower & Hand: Poems 1977 -1983.Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press.
Merwin, W. S.(1992). Second Four Books of Poems. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon.
Merwin, W. S. (1993).W S. Merwin: Selected Poems. New York: Atheneum
Merwin, W. S . |(1975). The First Four Books of Poems. New York: Atheneum.
Merwin, W. S . (1988).The Rain in the Forest. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.,
Merwin, W. S . (1995). The Vixen. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Merwin, W. S, (Autumn-Winter 1957). Flight Home. Issue 7. Retrieved from https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/4851/flight-home-w-s-merwin.
Merwin, W. S. (2005). Migration: New & Selected Poems. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press.
Merwin, W. S. (October 15, 2012). Neither Here nor There. New Yorker 88.
Merwin, W. S . (2009). The Shadow of Sirius. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press.
Skinner, Jonathan. (2001). Editor’s Statement. Ecopoetics 1: 5-8.
Solnit, Rebecca. (1994). Savage Dreams: A Journey into the Landscape Wars of the American West. New York: Vintage.
Whitney, Joel. (Winter 2010). The Garden & The Sword: Joel Whitney interviews the new U.S. Poet Laureate, W. S. Merwin. Retrieved from https://tricycle.org/magazine/garden-sword/.
Wutz, Michael & Crimmel, Hal ( Eds). (May 21, 2015). Conversations with W. S. Merwin. Univ. Press of Mississippi.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Asst. Prof. Aseel Abdulateef Taha
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright and Licensing:
For all articles published in Al-Adab journal, copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, meaning that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. These conditions allow for maximum use and exposure of the work.
Reproducing Published Material from other Publishers: It is absolutely essential that authors obtain permission to reproduce any published material (figures, schemes, tables or any extract of a text) which does not fall into the public domain, or for which they do not hold the copyright. Permission should be requested by the authors from the copyrightholder (usually the Publisher, please refer to the imprint of the individual publications to identify the copyrightholder).
Permission is required for: Your own works published by other Publishers and for which you did not retain copyright.
Substantial extracts from anyones' works or a series of works.
Use of Tables, Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks if they are unaltered or slightly modified.
Photographs for which you do not hold copyright.
Permission is not required for: Reconstruction of your own table with data already published elsewhere. Please notice that in this case you must cite the source of the data in the form of either "Data from..." or "Adapted from...".
Reasonably short quotes are considered fair use and therefore do not require permission.
Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks that are completely redrawn by the authors and significantly changed beyond recognition do not require permission.
Obtaining Permission
In order to avoid unnecessary delays in the publication process, you should start obtaining permissions as early as possible. If in any doubt about the copyright, apply for permission. Al-Adab Journal cannot publish material from other publications without permission.
The copyright holder may give you instructions on the form of acknowledgement to be followed; otherwise follow the style: "Reproduced with permission from [author], [book/journal title]; published by [publisher], [year].' at the end of the caption of the Table, Figure or Scheme.
How to Cite
