You Die Without Knowing

It’s the birthday of poet W.S. Merwin (books by this author), born in New York City (1927). His father was a Presbyterian minister, and Merwin made up hymns before he could even write. He studied creative writing at Princeton University and often showed his poems to the poet John Berryman, then a graduate student. Merwin asked Berryman how to know if his poems were any good. Berryman replied:

“You can’t. You can never be sure. You die without knowing.”

Merwin later included the lines in a poem.