I think I have all (or most) of Merwin's poetry books. His poetry was what originally sparked my interest in poetry many years ago. I still have not read every one of his poems. But every time I read Merwin, I am still amazed. His precise control of language is often wondrous to see. And humbling. I have to try hard not to emulate him, but I admit I have in some ways. Even when he went blind he continued to create great poetry.
I don't like all of his work--just what he wrote after he stopped the formal writing. Lice and Carrier of Ladders are my favs. And then I like some of his other stuff. Asian Figures is delightful. Even some of his short prose is really good. I used to teach English at university and received many of his books as evaluation copies, so I had a lot of them.
