SOURCE: Merwin, W. S., Ed Folsom, and Cary Nelson. “‘Fact Has Two Faces’: An Interview with W. S. Merwin.”¹ Iowa Review 13, no. 1 (winter 1982): 30-66.

In the following interview, originally conducted in 1981, Merwin discusses his feelings about Whitman and Thoreau, his use of language, and his development as a poet.

[Folsom]: You have rarely done interviews. Why?

[Merwin]: I gave one in Los Angeles about six years ago, with a couple of students who wanted to do one, but they hadn't prepared anything. I think that's one of the reasons for distrusting it. If the interviewers are unprepared or the questions are remote, you have to give a monologue to save the occasion. Then the risk is self-indulgence. The interviews we know well, I suppose, started with those in Paris Review, about twenty-five years ago. Then it became a very popular form, and I think it's been a happy...