W. S. Merwin
Lesson plans and teaching resources

| Biography and Background | | Lesson Plans for Specific Poems |

Biography and Background

Poet W.S. Merwin Explores Passion for Gardening
This downloadable video (5:41) presents an interview with the poet. He discusses early influences and reads "From the Start" and "Rain Light." Despite the title, this clip doesn't really explore gardening.

W. S. Merwin
Biography from Wikipedia.

W. S. Merwin
A 15-minute video interview with Bill Moyers. Transcript available.

W.S. Merwin
Follow links to biography, critical commentary, and the text or audiofile of 159 poems.

W. S. Merwin: Online Resources
Links to audio and video of the poet, biography, interviews, articles, criticism, and more. From the U. S. Library of Congress.

Lesson Plans for Specific Poems

"The Nails" by W. S. Merwin
Text of the poem and critical commentary.

"Search Party" Downloadable audio file of the poem (1:37).

"Small Woman on Swallow Street"
Text of the poem and commentary.

"Yesterday" by W. S. Merwin
In this short, captioned video, the poet reads his poem. Scroll down for discussion questions and analysis.