James Merrill and W.H. Auden

"James Merrill and W.H. Auden" offers a comprehensive analysis of the literary and personal relationship between two significant poets of the twentieth century. P. Gwiazda examines how Auden's influence on Merrill, particularly as a homosexual poet and critic in American post-war literature, is of particular importance. Merrill recreates Auden in his occult verse trilogy "The Changing Light at Sandover" (1982), which makes a powerful statement about the dynamics of poetic influence between gay poets. By combining archival research, text analysis, and aspects of queer theory, the book illuminates the implications of Sandover in relation to the contentious themes of homosexual identity and self-representation.