Lost in Translation (poem)
"Lost in Translation" is a narrative poem by James Merrill (1926–1995), one of the most studied and celebrated of his shorter works. It was originally published in The New Yorker magazine on April 8, 1974, and published in book form in 1976 in Divine Comedies. "Lost in Translation" is Merrill's most anthologized poem.
James Merrill's childhood home was a 50-room mansion called "The Orchard," located in Southampton, New York
James Ingram Merrill was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1977 for Divine Comedies. His poetry falls into two distinct bodies of work: the polished and formalist lyric poetry of his early career, and the epic narrative of occult communication with spirits and angels, titled The Changing Light at Sandover, which dominated his later career. Although most of his published work was poetry, he also wrote essays, fiction, and plays.
Merrill in 1973
James Merrill and David Jackson in Athens, Greece, October 1973 (photo: Judith Moffett)
James Merrill with actor Peter Hooten, his partner from 1983 to 1995 (photo: Judith Moffett)
The cover of The Changing Light at Sandover, a 560-page epic poem published in 1982, shows the ballroom of "The Orchard," James Merrill's childhood home in The Hamptons in the 1930s.