description The Moving Target Overview
W.S. Merwin’s *The Moving Target* (1963) is a significant collection of American poetry exploring complex ideas through a distinctly avant-garde style. Merwin’s work in this volume reflects a growing concern with environmentalism and the impact of war, particularly evident in its surreal imagery and unconventional structure. It’s valuable for readers interested in 20th-century literature, especially those drawn to experimental poetry and reflections on human experience.
insights Why this score
The Moving Target ranks #272 of 436 in the Poetry Collection ranking, behind Poems and Ballads, ahead of Crossing the Water.
Key Merwin transitional collection toward spare surrealism and anti-war poetics, critically important if less popular.
help The Moving Target FAQ
What changed in W. S. Merwin's style in The Moving Target?
The 1963 collection marks Merwin's move toward looser lines, a more speech-like rhythm, and reduced punctuation. Poems near the end of the book anticipate the unpunctuated style he used extensively in later work.
Is The Moving Target the collection containing "For a Coming Extinction"?
No, "For a Coming Extinction" appeared in The Lice, published in 1967. The Moving Target is the earlier transitional book that helped establish the style Merwin developed further in The Lice.
How does The Moving Target differ from A Mask for Janus?
A Mask for Janus, Merwin's 1952 debut, uses more formal structures and visibly reflects his early literary influences. The Moving Target breaks toward a leaner, less ornamented voice and increasingly lets syntax control the poem instead of punctuation.
Does The Moving Target focus mainly on the Vietnam War?
It predates the period most strongly associated with Merwin's Vietnam War poetry. His more explicit anti-war and ecological anger is generally linked to The Lice, although The Moving Target begins the darker stylistic and moral turn that led there.
explore Explore More
Similar to The Moving Target
See all arrow_forward
Reviews & Comments
Write a Review
Be the first to review
Share your thoughts with the community and help others make better decisions.
