The Shadow of Sirius

by W.S. Merwin

Book Overview

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Featured on NPR's "Fresh Air" and "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS.

Honored as one of the "Best Books of the Year" from Publishers Weekly.

"A collection of luminous, often tender poems that focus on the profound power of memory." --Pulitzer Prize Committee

"In his personal anonymity, his strict individuated manner, his defense of the earth, and his heartache at time's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556593104
• ISBN13: 9781556593109
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press
• Length: 130 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Explaining the Inexplicable

I do not read a lot of poetry and was not familiar with Merwin, but some of the Pulitzer reviews piqued my interest in The Shadow of Sirius. The short, somber poems in this volume use deceptively simple language and are pared of all punctuation except a beginning capital letter. It almost seems that each poem is an unwinding thought that the poet does not want to impede and wishes to leave reverberating in the air like a musician leaves his final note. The line breaks appear carefully arranged to emphasize ideas or words. Words and word choice are important to Merwin, who also worked for many years as a translator, but the inability of words fully to articulate experience is also an issue. This slim volume is divided into three sections that deal loosely with youth, Merwin's dead dogs, and age. In interpreting the poems, the reader would gain by knowing some facts about the poet. For example, "the black dog" in section two refers to Merwin's black chow who went blind. Merwin now has some problems with his eyes, lived a time in France where he had an old house, reveres the natural environment, was the son of a minister, had a bleak childhood, is now a Zen Buddhist. These facts leave a print on his poems. It is possible to say that the poems are about memory, darkness, light, seasons, dogs, birds, parents and that the poems are are about something beyond their subjects. None of the poems explain the books title, nor does the subject of Sirius come up anywhere. Since Sirius has a smaller shadow star, perhaps Merwin refers with this title to his process of poetry that contains both the desire to capture the flute music and the knowledge this it is impossible.

A nice change of pace

Great book of poetry. I am not an expert, so I am speaking as an average reader. I find the words that are written paint a graphic picture of the content the author is trying to get across. I have always wanted to read more poetry, but have a hard time reading some of the classic texts. This was the first time I have been able to ready the tome from cover to cover. The book got here fast.

"The Shadow of Sirius" Is Shadowy

As a person from Western culture, I find this book very different. It shows how time and space merge in ways I seldom think of, but which obviously exist;language is sometimes inadequate to describe reality.

What a marvel this humble book of wisdom shared

Perhaps the best description of this latest book of W. S. Merwin comes from these lines from his poem "Codex": "It was a late book given up for lost/ again and again with its sentences/ bare at last and phrases that seemed transparent/ revealing what had been there the whole way." This is one of Merwin's finest works coming near the end of a long career of sharing his quiet and intuitive vision of life and writing. Anyone who misses this misses a great deal. His voice is humble and wise.

The Shadow of Sirius

After hearing a review of this book on NPR and discussion with the author, W.S. Merwin, I knew I had to purchase it. I'm so glad I did! I can open to any page and enjoy the beautiful turn of phrase and imagery that Merwin offers. It's my favorite book of poetry to date. I'm particularly fond of the poem on page 91, One of the Butterflies. I highly recommend this book!