"Lost in Translation"

Item

Merrill, James. 1972. “‘Lost in Translation’”. Series_IV_Manuscripts, James Merrill: Life and Archive, accessed March 6, 2026, https://digitalexhibits.library.wustl.edu/s/james-merrill-life-and-archive/item/38539

Title: "Lost in Translation"
Description: In this popular poem, Merrill reminisces about the summer of 1937, waiting for and then working on a jigsaw puzzle with his governess, Zelly, and her teaching him "her languages." "Lost in Translation" is often cited as Merrill's greatest short poem. Included here are four of a total seventy-two manuscript pages in the James Merrill Papers. "Lost in Translation" was published in The New Yorker and then Divine Comedies.
Subject: Merrill, James, 1926-1995
Creator: Merrill, James
Source: James Merrill Papers (MSS083) - Box 133, Folder 3338
Date: Circa 1972
Relation: Series_IV_Manuscripts; Exhibit Cases 1-2: Love and Money; James Merrill: Life and Art, pp. 521-2
Format: 4 leaves. Recto.; 4 jpegs. 600 ppi.
Language: English
Type: Manuscript
Identifier: MSS083_3338_LostInTranslation_037.jpg
MSS083_3338_LostInTranslation_038.jpg
MSS083_3338_LostInTranslation_039.jpg
MSS083_3338_LostInTranslation_040.jpg
Rights Holder: Washington University in St. Louis
Rights: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Item sets: Merrill; Merrill Life Archive

Media: MSS083_3338_LostInTranslation_037.jpg; MSS083_3338_LostInTranslation_038.jpg; MSS083_3338_LostInTranslation_039.jpg; MSS083_3338_LostInTranslation_040.jpg