James Merrill stands as a monumental figure in American poetry, celebrated for his exceptional mastery of form, lyrical prowess, and the innovative way he married personal narrative with broader metaphysical themes. While his early work was often critiqued as overly clever or detached, Merrill evolved to explore deeper emotional and philosophical landscapes. His ability to weave the intimate with the epic—most notably in his magnum opus, The Changing Light at Sandover—cements his place among the greats of poetic exploration.

The Evolution of James Merrill’s Poetry

Merrill’s body of work is characterized by its intricate forms and rich language. He began his poetic journey with works that were witty and skillfully crafted but sometimes perceived as lacking emotional depth. This changed with Water Street, where the narrator’s voice became more personal, and Merrill began to incorporate autobiographical elements into his poetry. These poems, while personal, maintained a level of restraint and decorum.

His early collections, such as First Poems and The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace, and Other Poems, were marked by technical precision and a certain reticence about emotion. Merrill’s use of traditional forms and the concealment of his personal life, particularly his homosexuality, behind a mask of anonymous "you" kept his early work somewhat removed. However, themes of love and the exploration of reality versus appearance began to emerge more pointedly in later collections.

The Personal and the Mythical

By the time Merrill published Braving the Elements, the personal had become inseparable from the mythical in his work. This collection, like others, continued to address childhood, family, and identity while integrating narrative elements. Merrill’s “Days of 1935” and “Days of 1971” underscore how personal history and larger mythic narratives intertwine in his poetry. Similarly, “The Emerald” uses family history to subtly explore his own identity.

The poet’s fascination with opposites and dualities runs through his work, often using humor, irony, and playfulness. Merrill’s poetry frequently employs puns, wordplay, and philosophical meditations, reflecting an immense sense of play that informs both theme and method.

The Changing Light at Sandover: An Epic Undertaking

The Changing Light at Sandover is a cornerstone of Merrill’s oeuvre, often compared to other epic works such as Dante’s Divine Comedy or Milton’s Paradise Lost. Originating from sessions with a Ouija board, this work expands the possibilities of poetry through its blend of the spiritual with the autobiographical, creating a complex mythology that explores the nature of God, the universe, and man’s place in it.

The trilogy begins with “The Book of Ephraim,” where Merrill and his lover, David Jackson, communicate with spirits via the Ouija board. This book lays the groundwork for exploring themes of love, identity, and the metaphysical universe. As the trilogy progresses through Mirabell: Books of Number and Scripts for the Pageant, the scope widens to include elaborate cosmologies and spiritual hierarchies. Merrill’s spirits offer commentary on creation, science, and the metaphysical, reflecting his fascination with both the known and the unknown.

Formal Innovation and Thematic Exploration

Merrill was not only a master of traditional forms but also an innovator of verse structure. His poetry employed quatrains, sonnets, and even medieval forms like the canzone, as seen in “Samos.” Merrill's work often employs tercets, blank verse, and terza rima, drawing comparisons to Dante’s epic style. This formal experimentation reflects the thematic depth of his work, where personal experiences are woven into broader mythological and philosophical frameworks.

His later poems, such as “Losing the Marbles,” reflect on aging and the passage of time, often redefining personal loss and decay into broader reflections on art and existence....