News at Eleven (Back Page): Over the past 30 years [W.S.] Merwin

has planted more than 4,000 trees at his Haiku home, representing hundreds of species. Before Merwin arrived on Maui the Haiku property's trees had been chopped for firewood, then the land used for a cattle feeding area and was more-or-less a "wasteland". Like English Romantic poet William Wordsworth (mid-19th century Great Britain's Poet Laureate), another poet with a love of nature, trees have always been part of Merwin's poetry; for example, in his poem entitled simply "Place":

On the last day of the world
I would want to plant a tree

from The Maui News: The U.S. Poet Laureate W. S. Merwin and his Maui Journey

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