MacA
Many thanks for posting this. Have only in recent months become aware of Merrill's accomplishments. Several examples of his work have been quoted on other threads here.
One of my favourites is the blackly comic ballad 'The Summer People' which is far too long to reproduce in full here. I offer a few early stanzas as a taster.
The summer people
"et l'hiver resterait la saison intellectuelle creatrice."Mallarme (sorry about omitted accents).
On our New England coast was once
A village white and neat
With Greek Revival houses,
Sailboats, a fishing fleet,
Two churches and two liquor stores,
An Inn, a Gourmet Shoppe,
A library, a pharmacy,
Trains passed but did not stop.
Gold Street was rich in neon,
Main Street in rustling trees
Unouched as yet by hurricanes
And the Dutch elm disease.
On Main the summer people
Took deep-throated ease -
A leaf turned red, to town they'd head.
On Gold lived the Poruguese
Whose forebears had manned whalers.
Two years from the Azores
Saw you with ten gold dollars
Upon these fabled shores.
Feet still pace the whaler's deck
At the Caustic (Me.) Museum.
A small stuffed whale hangs overhead
As in the head a dream.
Slowly the fleet was shrinking.
The good-sized fish were few.
Town meetings closed and opened
With the question what to do.
Each year when manufacturers
Of chemicals and glues
Bid to pollute the harbor
It took longer to refuse ...'
Do read on if you get the chance!
Margaret.
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