What is the author's style in Merlin Enthralled by Richard Wilbur?

Point of view refers to the consciousness from which a story is being told. Often the point of view of a literary work will be that of one of the characters involved in the action, although authors sometimes use an "omniscient" point of view, which can give information known to none of the characters. The point of view for "Merlin Enthralled" shifts freely and in some cases is unidentifiable.

Often a poem's point of view is assumed to be that of the person or persons being discussed at the time. For instance, it is probably the knights of the Round Table who believe that "in all the world was no unnatural sound" and that the squirrels in the trees made "an alien fracas," although the knights themselves might not have phrased their experiences with those words. The fifth stanza describes Merlin but uses the phrase "a creature to bewitch a sorcerer" to describe Niniane: although the focus of this stanza is on Merlin, this particular phrase is probably not from Merlin's point of view but is instead the poem's narrator commenting directly on Niniane. The seventh and eighth stanzas clearly present the situation from Merlin's point of view, raising the possibility that he sees the situation unclearly because Niniane has a spell on him, that his death is not as calm and liberating as he might think it is.

The first two lines of stanza eight and the last two of stanza nine give an omniscient view of the characters from philosophical and historical perspectives. These lines are interrupted by a brief but powerful direct quote from King Arthur, who understands that Merlin has died as well as the significance of his death.