Merrill is admired by people whom I admire, but he seems to be an acquired taste. As a young man, I was so off-put by his Ouija-board maunderings that I have given him short shrift ever since.
I find David's comment on "density" to be intriguing. Richard Wilbur uses the word "charge" in pretty much the same sense. I would imagine that David must be an admirer of the divine Miss D., but so narrow a definition of poetry must inevitably exclude more relaxed or narrative verse.
Alan Sullivan
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