Mar 03 2009
American Poet James Merrill
~Merrill’s Divine Comedy~
Today, March 3, is the birthday of James Ingram Merrill (1926-1995), American poet, prominent during the later part of the 20th century, known for his mastery of poetic form. Born in New York City, his father was the founder of Merrill Lynch. Merrill started writing poems at a very young age. Since the family was well-off he didn’t have to worry about money and a job. He also found time to travel.
Merrill won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1976 book-length poem Divine Comedies which is a mystical poetry collection featuring Ephraim who provides instructions from beyond the grave. Ephraim incidentally a ghost.
Later in his career and life, he wrote an epic poem called The Changing Light of Sandover which is actually put together from his earlier Divine Comedies plus two more books, Mirabell’s Books of Number and Scripts for the Pageant.
His earliest books were Jim’s Book and The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace.
