Lost in Translation (poem)

"Lost in Translation" is a poem by James Merrill, originally published in The New Yorker magazine on April 8, 1974. It appeared in book form for the first time in 1976 in Divine Comedies. (Divine Comedies was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1977.)

Related Topics:
Poem - James Merrill - The New Yorker - April 8 - 1974 - 1976 - Divine Comedies - Pulitzer Prize - 1977

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The poem opens with a description of a summer Merrill spent as a child in a great house in The Hamptons, with his governess, waiting patiently for a rented wooden jigsaw puzzle to arrive in the mail from an Upper East Side Manhattan puzzle rental shop.

Related Topics:
The Hamptons - Governess - Jigsaw puzzle - Upper East Side - Manhattan

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The most studied and celebrated of James Merrill's shorter works of poetry, "Lost in Translation" has been widely praised by literary critics including Harold Bloom.

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