To The New Year, W. S. Merwin, 1937-2019, American
from Present Company (Port Townsend, Washington: Copper Canyon Press, 2005).
Mount Corcoran, oil on canvas, 1876-77.
Albert Bierstadt, 1830-1902, American born Germany. Corcoran Collection at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
as above
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
as above
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
A Blackbird with Snow-Covered Red Hills, 1946, oil on canvas.
Georgia O’Keefe, 1887-1986, American. National Gallery, Washington, DC
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning
as above
so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible
Pan of Rohallion, model 1889-1890, gilded bronze.
Frederick William MacMonnies, 1863-1937, American. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
