Browse Items (15 total)

Journal entry by David Jackson about jealousy and promiscuity between James Merrill and Jackson.

Journal 50 contains Merrill's last poem draft, called "The Next to Last Scene," scribbled down (without his glasses) the day before he died of a heart attack. It was unusual for Merrill to title the first draft of a poem in his notebook.

A draft of a letter to Merrill's mother, Hellen Ingram Plummer, to prepare her for the publication of his memoir,A Different Person, which contained elements of his life he knew would be unsettling to her.

Journal 16 captures the visit to the Mayo Clinic during which Merrill was tested for HIV and received the diagnosis of HIV positive. The entry includes haikus, some of which would appear in "Prose of Departure," a 14-part haibun poem.

James Merrill's notes on a possible title for the Ouija trilogy, eventually titled "The Changing Light at Sandover."

A Ouija séance transcript of the recently-deceased Tony Harwood describing the experience of his death.

Notes on David McIntosh visit to Stonington coming to an end. This entry includes the first version of first two lines of "The Kimono."

Early holograph notes and drafts toward the poem that would become “18 W 11th St.” The poem regards his childhood NYC home, which was accidentally blown up by radicals living there and making homemade bombs in the basement.

Draft of a letter to Tony Harwood about Merrill's beliefs on soul and spirituality. These would feed into "The Broken Home," "From the Cupola," and "Days of 1964."

Early notes on The (Diblos) Notebook--a novel-within-a-novel where life and art turn into each other--inspired by Kimon Friar's idea for "a poet's coming-of-age story and a prelude to a great work."