I agree that Timothy Murphy's poetry provides an excellent example of poetry that is dense without sacrificing any other element. However, this poem by Merrill reminds me, for some reason, of "Nocturne" by W.H. Auden, which is also dense yet perfectly clear. Many people who have only read Auden's "September, 1939" don't know that he wrote many much more eloquent poems.
NOCTURNE
Make this night lovable,
Moon, and with eye single
Looking down from up there,
Bless me, One especial
And friends everywhere.
With a cloudless brightness
Surround our absences;
Innocent be our sleeps,
Watched by great still spaces,
White hills, glittering deeps.
Parted by circumstance,
Grant each your indulgence
That we may meet in dreams
For talk, for dalliance,
By warm hearths, by cool streams.
Shine lest tonight any,
In the dark suddenly,
Wake alone in a bed
To hear his own fury
Wishing his love were dead.
W. H. Auden
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Caleb
www.poemtree.com