Episode

W.S. Merwin — For The Anniversary of My Death

Podcast: Poetry Unbound
Published: Jan 16, 2026
Duration seconds: 917
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Canonical source: https://onbeing.org/series/poetry-unbound/
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Summary

W.S. Merwin’s “For The Anniversary of My Death” is a slim, precise poem — just 13 lines made up of 84 words — about the very weightiest of subjects, one’s future death. With it, Merwin has crafted an elegant vessel, a small and sturdy container to hold some of life’s big questions, uncertainties, and feelings. Are you ready to gaze at it, grasp it, sit with it? And as you contemplate death, he gently reminds, remain here — where there’s rain, birdsong, and life right in front of you.