The Shadow of Sirius (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In his best book in a decade—and one of the best outright—Merwin points his oracular, unpunctuated poems toward his own past, admitting, I have only what I remember, and offering what may be his most personal, generous and empathic collection. Somehow, he manages to dissolve the boundaries between one time and another, seeming to look forward to the past or remember what has yet to happen, as in a recollection of traveling to Europe by boat and seeing a warship I recognized/ from a model of it I had made/ when I was a child/ and beyond it/ there was a road down the cliff/ that I would descend some years later/ and recognize it/ there we were all together/ one time. The poems show the marks of having weathered ...the complete course/ of life, but also feel fresh and awake with a simplicity that can only be called wisdom: the morning is too/ beautiful to be anything else. Gorgeous poems about enduring love melt time as well, looking toward a moment when we will be no older than we ever were. These are among Merwin's best poems, because, as he says, it is the late poems/ that are made of words/ that have come the whole way/ they have been there. (Sept.)
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From Booklist

With no punctuation and a solitary launching capital letter, Merwin’s elegant poems are built to the measure of breath and sweep the page like palm fronds. Yet each word is old, lustrous, and solid. Only a poet as seasoned as Merwin can wrest so much meaning from dark, moon, wake, river, and song. The questions he poses are as old as night, and the answers are forever elusive. The contrast between airiness and earthiness is intrinsic to master poet Merwin’s newest poems, lithe works steely in their testing of the mesh of memory and sensuousness; the coil of time, “our continuing fiction”; and the ripple of shadows attendant upon the brightest star, the most radiant life. Childhood reminiscences summon the dead and recall the now obsolete; the underworld masquerades as a coal mine or a shadow without form or “the darkness that is the mind of day.” And Merwin contemplates the earth’s verdant singularity in the “vault of darkness,” our entreaties “straying far out past the orbits and webs.” --Donna Seaman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Copper Canyon Press; First Printing edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556592841
• ISBN-13: 978-1556592843
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #296,007 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Shadow of Sirius, April 16, 2009

By	Pamela G. Maher (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a marvel this humble book of wisdom shared, May 4, 2009

By	Larry R. Smith "Midwest Reviewer" (Huron, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice change of pace, June 4, 2009

By	Potpie55 "Potpie55" (Everett, WA. 98204) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.