MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
The poet W.S. Merwin was a conservationist, a translator, a Buddhist and a literary prize winner many times over, including two Pulitzer Prizes and the National Book Award. Merwin died yesterday at his home in Hawaii at age 91. He leaves us his vast collection of poems, including many about his deep love for the natural world. I spoke with Merwin when he was named the U.S. poet laureate in 2010 and asked him to read one of his poems. It's a very short poem about loss called "Separation."
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W S MERWIN: (Reading) Your absence has gone through me like thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color.
BLOCK: W.S. Merwin died yesterday at age 91.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE END OF THE OCEAN'S "WORTH EVERYTHING EVER WISHED FOR") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.