"The Thousand and Second Night"

Item

Merrill, James. n.d. “‘The Thousand and Second Night’”. Series_IV_Manuscripts, James Merrill: Life and Archive, accessed February 11, 2026, https://digitalexhibits.library.wustl.edu/s/james-merrill-life-and-archive/item/38418

Title: "The Thousand and Second Night"
Description: Notebook pages showing the first title of and early notes toward the pivotal, experimental, multifaceted poem "The Thousand and Second Night," which was based partly upon Merrill's Bell's palsy experience. These notes capture Merrill's uncertainty what is happening to his half-paralyzed face, and his realization the condition can be a metaphor for his soul. These are just three of a total sixty-eight manuscript pages in the collection. The drafts includes pages toward a pseudo quote about the soul and abuse of the earth, two major themes of the epic Ouija board poems that came later.

See also the photograph of Maria Mitsotaki and James Merrill.
Subject: Merrill, James, 1926-1995
Creator: Merrill, James
Source: James Merrill Papers (MSS083) - Box 139, Folder 3598
Relation: Series_IV_Manuscripts; Exhibit Cases 5-6: Greece; James Merrill: Life and Art, pp. 323-9
Format: 2 leaves. Recto and verso; 2 jpegs. 600 ppi.
Language: English
Type: Manuscript
Identifier: Subseries_IV-1-a_The_Thousand_and_Second_Night-001.jpg
Subseries_IV-1-a_The_Thousand_and_Second_Night-002.jpg
Rights Holder: Washington University in St. Louis
Rights: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Item sets: Merrill; Merrill Life Archive

Site pages: Greece - Manuscripts

Media: Subseries_IV-1-a_The_Thousand_and_Second_Night-001.jpg; Subseries_IV-1-a_The_Thousand_and_Second_Night-002.jpg