---
product_id: 39917133
title: "Merrill: Poems: Edited by Langdon Hammer (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series)"
brand: "james merrilllangdon hammer"
price: "11949 kr"
currency: ISK
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 6
url: https://www.desertcart.is/products/39917133-merrill-poems-edited-by-langdon-hammer-everymans-library-pocket-poets
store_origin: IS
region: Iceland
---

# Merrill: Poems: Edited by Langdon Hammer (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series)

**Brand:** james merrilllangdon hammer
**Price:** 11949 kr
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Merrill: Poems: Edited by Langdon Hammer (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series) by james merrilllangdon hammer
- **How much does it cost?** 11949 kr with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.is](https://www.desertcart.is/products/39917133-merrill-poems-edited-by-langdon-hammer-everymans-library-pocket-poets)

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- james merrilllangdon hammer enthusiasts

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## Description

Merrill: Poems: Edited by Langdon Hammer (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series)

## Images

![Merrill: Poems: Edited by Langdon Hammer (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51dNwS0aQ4L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    James Merrill Was A Great Poet but I do prefer his shorter poems.
  

*by J***S on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 31, 2019*

This collection really is of Merrill at his best, I find. His trilogy I think is overworked. I do prefer his shorter pieces.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Excellent Collection
  

*by W***H on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 14, 2019*

An excellent collection of a great poets work in a very handy size. It’s attractively and sturdily made and just the right size.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    "Mandarin Taste"
  

*by B***S on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 22, 2017*

Langdon Hammer, in his compilation of James Merrill’s work in the redoubtable collection of the Everyman Library, “Pocket Poets” series, says: “James Merrill is frequently viewed as a mandarin taste, a mid-twentieth century Mallarme.  .  . .”I get the Mallarme reference, but besides sounding marvelously exotic, what in the world is a “mandarin taste?”A simple Google search of the phrase, reveals no literary definition, but rather approximately 1,000 search results for Chinese restaurants! So, is Hammer saying that Merrill’s works are the literary equivalent of Chinese takeout, poems fit to be housed in white cardboard containers and purchasable on any street corner?Or, is a “mandarin taste” a reference to the eating of a tiny mandarin orange, those easily peel-able cousins of their more traditional nourishing, sticky juice-filled cousins? I like mandarin oranges, myself, but really prefer the original.What I gather is that a “mandarin taste” ought to be something plain, something bland, something to be purchased on any street corner.I disagree with Hammer—Merrill is anything but bland, ubiquitous, common as Chinese takeout, unsatisfying as a mandarin orange.I never entirely figured out the answer to this “mandarin” business, but after reading this little book, I did find some marvelously inventive poems that struck my fancy. One, “To a Butterfly,” turns convention on its ear and bemoans the fate of the caterpillar, a “simple poor creature,” who’s:.  . . slender person curledAbout an apple twig,Rebounding to the wind’s clear jig,Gave up the worldIn favor of gray matter. .  .Shining awake to sloughYour old life. And soon fourDapper stained glass windows boreYou up—Enough!The “stained glass window” reference is fascinating, as it mark’s Merrill’s obvious ambivalence with and reaction against traditional religion. Scores of his poems echo this strong ambivalence and negative reaction, while embracing occult-like imagery. Merrill eschews religion, but apparently embraces an occult-like substitute. Langdon Hammer tells us, straight-faced, apparently with utter seriousness, that Merrill and his lover “discovered that they could use the Ouija board to communicate with the dead. . .”! And, it’s not merely Christianity that receives the bitter lash of Merrill’s skilled poetic whip, but Islam, as shown in his “Page from the Koran”:A small vellum environmentOverrun by blackScorpions of Kufic script—their ranksAll trigger tail and gold-vowel-sac.  .  .  .Many of the poems reflect Merrill’s long medical decline and approaching death.I loved the miniature quality of the poems, like little cartouches or medallions.Since I already own 28 other volumes in Everyman Library’s “Pocket Poet” series, I must comment on the design of this new volume. One of the things I have loved about the series is the high artistry of the typography and creative design of the covers, which are uniform with each other but still proclaim the originality and essence of the individual poet, especially on the spines. So, for example, “Poems About Horses” has thundering steeds racing vertically up the spine; “Dickinson” has a long chevron of small, upward pointing lines seeming to break through a counter-running strata; “Christmas Poems” have intricately positioned wreaths of sharp-pointed holly; “On the Wings of Song” has a long vertical row of speckled birds eggs; etc., etc. But this new volume of Merrill’s poems has disappointingly—wait for it—a single, elongated letter M, seemingly in Calibri with a font setting of 96 or greater, and NOTHING ELSE. When I place the Merrill volume on my Pocket Poets shelf shoulder to shoulder with its more richly designed and uniquely portrayed cousins, Merrill looks kind of sad and forlorn, and, well . . . Mandarin!

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*Product available on Desertcart Iceland*
*Store origin: IS*
*Last updated: 2026-02-20*