W.S. Merwin, in full William Stanley Merwin, (born September 30, 1927, New York, New York, U.S.—died March 15, 2019, Haiku, Hawaii), American poet and translator known for the spare style of his poetry, in which he expressed his concerns about the alienation of humans from their environment. After graduating from Princeton University (B.A., 1947), Merwin worked as a tutor in Europe and as a freelance translator.