Two Writers: One Merlin

Geoffrey Hill says how Merlin misses his friends because they’ve all passed on, and that hopefully, they can all be together in England again, sometime in the future. Hill addresses Merlin’s past mostly in his poem. Edwin Muir, on the other hand, is asking Merlin if he can really do the impossible. He doubts that Merlin can do anything (i.e. outrun your own shadow) never before done. Muir’s poem analyzes more, the famous wizard aspect of Merlin, from the legend of King Arthur.