“Any work of art makes one very simple demand on anyone who genuinely wants to get in touch with it. And that is to stop. You've got to stop what you're doing, what you're thinking, and what you're expecting and just be there for the poem for however long it takes.” ThinkingWantLongArtSimpleDemandWorks Of ArtExpecting Author:W. S. Merwin
“Politically it would be terribly repressive to prevent people from having as many children as they want. But something's got to prevent it; and it won't be pleasant... We're still behaving in ways that have become disastrous... I don't think this helps us to survive... We're very species-centric... and now exist at the expense of every other form of life on Earth.” PeopleThinkingWayWantChildrenStillsHelpingWould BeEarthFormSpeciesPleasantExpenses Author:W. S. Merwin
“I wouldn't be happy about being considered a love poet or an environmental - I don't want any of those tags.” WantPoetEnvironmentalTag Author:W. S. Merwin
“There are poets who believe that you shouldn't engage at all in any cause. And there's something to be said for that. Because you don't want to - I think most political poetry is very bad. And it's very bad because you know too much to start with. You have a sense that you're right, and you're trying to tell other people what's right. And I think that's always kind of fundamentalism, and I don't like it.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWantTryingBelieveKindSaidPoliticalCausesToo MuchPoetPoetry IsFundamentalism Author:W. S. Merwin
“On the last day of the world I would want to plant a tree” WorldWantLastsTreePlantContemplationLast DayPlant A Tree Author:W. S. Merwin
“I think there's a kind of desperate hope built into poetry that one really wants, hopelessly, to save the world. One is trying to say everything that can be said for the things that one loves while there's still time.” ThinkingWorldWantTryingKindSaidStillsBuiltDesperateOne LoveSave The World Author:W. S. Merwin
