AsterNymAsterNym
Portrait of W. S. Merwin

W. S. Merwin

W. S. Merwin (born September 30, 1927, New York City, United States; died 2019), was an American poet. Merwin's honours include Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Bollingen Prize and Guggenheim Fellowship.

W. S. Merwin’s zodiac sign was Libra, Chinese zodiac was Fire Rabbit, with Life Path 4 in numerology.

Your match with W. S. Merwin

Free, no account, stays on this device. Add a birth time later.

W. S. Merwin’s AsterNym identity

The Radiant Pioneer

Fire represents warmth, visibility and momentum. Fire-led charts are associated with enthusiasm, expression and the ability to encourage other people. Life Path 4 represents structure: foundations, systems and the patience to continue after the first enthusiasm fades.

Fire Day Master (BaZi) × cardinal Sun × Life Path 4, on the physical plane.

What W. S. Merwin’s name adds up to

Worked from the name as published, letter by letter.

7

Expression · depth and research

5

Soul Urge · freedom

11

Personality · perceptive

The name opens on W (5) and closes on W (5). The value it repeats most is 5, which numerology reads as movement.

Pythagorean letter values · A=1 to I=9, then J=1 again

W. S. Merwin’s lucky numbers, colours and stones

Traditional correspondences, calculated not chosen.

Lucky numbers

4 · 3 · 6

Lucky colours

Red & Orange

Lucky day

Friday

Direction

↓ South

Season

summer

Stones

Sapphire, Diamond, Carnelian

Flower constellation

⭐ Aster · 🌹 Blush Rose · 🌸 Hibiscus

Lavender · Blush · Scarlet

Eight Mansions · Kua number

Kua 9, trigram Li 離, East group. Best direction East, worst Northeast.

A different tradition from the Direction above, and a different question: feng shui reads it from the solar year 1927, which turns at Li Chun rather than at New Year, and from sex, which Wikidata records as male. Work out your own →

The record

What sets W. S. Merwin apart

W. S. Merwin took the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973, at 46.

The classrooms behind this chart: Princeton University and Wyoming Seminary.

The working life starts in 1952, at 25.

Cause of death is recorded as myocardial infarction.

Wikipedia's editors put W. S. Merwin under Poets from Hawaii, Writers from Union City, New Jersey and Translators of Dante Alighieri.

Monica Bellucci (1964) and Max Verstappen (1997) share the birthday in another year, so the sun sits where it sits here.

Educated at
Princeton University and Wyoming Seminary
Awards
Bollingen Prize (1979), Guggenheim Fellowship (1973) and United States Poet Laureate (2010)
Working from
1952
Cause of death
myocardial infarction
Citizenship
United States
Languages
English and Italian
Wikipedia editions
29

What the chart says

W. S. Merwin, according to the stars

Core essence

W. S. Merwin makes the room fairer just by being in it. The core of W. S. Merwin is a feel for balance, in people, in colour, in who has not been asked their opinion yet. They are charming because they are genuinely interested, and they can see every side of a thing, which is a gift and, on a bad day, a very slow way to choose dinner.

How W. S. Merwin wants to be loved

W. S. Merwin wants to be loved attentively. Venus in Virgo shows love through service, the fixed thing, the remembered appointment, and wants to be loved the same way: notice what they did. Big words matter less than the follow-through. Be reliable with W. S. Merwin and they will quietly make your whole life run better.

How W. S. Merwin creates

How W. S. Merwin makes things happen: they hold the flame steady. A Yin Fire day master is the candle, the lamp, the light that is close and personal rather than blazing. W. S. Merwin creates intimacy, one room, one conversation, one person made to feel seen. Moody when the fuel runs low, magnetic when it does not.

Instinct

Instinct: W. S. Merwin is gentle and diplomatic, a Rabbit year, and their gut reaction is to keep the peace and read the room. Graceful, kind, quietly discerning, and much tougher than the soft manners suggest. The Fire year turns the volume up: warmer, bolder, more expressive, harder to overlook.

Purpose

Purpose: Life Path 4 is the builder. W. S. Merwin is here to make things that last, to put structure under other people's dreams, to be trusted with the real work. Loyal, practical, honest, and learning that the plan can bend without breaking.

Triggers

Triggers: unfairness, and being forced to pick a side. Mars in Libra hates open conflict and will negotiate for hours to avoid it, then dig in absolutely when a principle is at stake. W. S. Merwin fights for balance. The lesson is that sometimes the fair thing is to just say no.

Computed from W. S. Merwin's birth date. Working below.

Where W. S. Merwin sits

Six lines

W. S. Merwin’s dot comes from the chart; yours is where you put it.

Intimate circleWide network
W. S. Merwin

You likely balance a tight inner circle with a wider orbit you dip into.

DeliberateSpontaneous
W. S. Merwin

You likely weigh most decisions but can move fast when it matters.

PrivateExpressive
W. S. Merwin

You likely share some feelings openly and keep others to yourself.

Cool off firstResolve immediately
W. S. Merwin

You likely handle some friction right away and let smaller things settle.

PracticalVisionary
W. S. Merwin

You likely balance practical steps with room to imagine further.

Gradual trustImmediate chemistry
W. S. Merwin

You likely warm up at a pace that depends on the person and moment.

Tap each line where you sit.

All twelve of yours, from your birth date →

✦ A real star from their birth night

Dedicate a star to W. S. Merwin

Three stars chosen from the real sky above New York City on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.

W. S. Merwin’s birth-night reference starDenebwhite · CygnusDeneb, in Cygnus. A white star, 78.2° above the horizon at 9 p.m. local time, the bright star nearest the zenith.Dedicate Deneb →The warmest lightCapellagolden yellow · AurigaCapella, in Auriga. A golden yellow star, 15.3° above the horizon at 9 p.m. local time, the warmest-toned bright star up that night.Dedicate Capella →

A 9 p.m. reference sky, not the birth minute. Dedications are commemorative and confer no ownership of stars.

The sky over New York City that night

Computed for 40.71°N, 9 p.m. local sky.

At 9 p.m. the star closest to straight overhead at New York City was Deneb, in Cygnus, 78.2° up.

Of the 93 catalog stars above the horizon, Vega was the brightest.

From 40.7°N not one of the brightest stars stays permanently above the horizon — all of them rise and set.

Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, Hadar, Acrux, Mimosa and Toliman cannot be seen from New York City at all: they sit past the −49.3° declination limit this latitude imposes.

Sun 36° below the horizon, Moon down and 22% lit at waxing crescent.

The name and the places

Born in
New York City, United States
Lived in
Scranton · New York City

Wikidata records Scranton and New York City as W. S. Merwin's home, New York City among them.

The death is recorded at Haiku, Maui County in 2019.

No birth time is on record, so no astrocartography map can be drawn for W. S. Merwin: the lines move about fifteen degrees of longitude an hour. Shared Places can still draw yours.

How unusual W.'s chart is

Chart pattern score

60 / 100 · Unusual

Yod onto Jupiter · 3-planet stellium in Libra · Venus retrograde

An AsterNym index built from stelliums, yods, grand crosses and chart shape. It is not a population percentile, and a high score is not a better chart. Without a birth time the houses are left out of it.

Score your own chart →

W. S. Merwin at a glance

Libra Sun

Makes the peace, keeps the peace.

W. S. Merwin's Sun was in Libra for the whole of September 30, 1927, so no birth time is needed to settle it.

What Libra means →

Fire Rabbit

Soft voice, sharp read.

W. S. Merwin was born on September 30, 1927, which falls in a Fire Rabbit year of the Chinese calendar.

What the Rabbit means →

Life Path 4

Structure is comfort.

W. S. Merwin's birth date, September 30, 1927, reduces to Life Path 4 under the numerology method AsterNym uses.

What Life Path 4 means →

What stands out in W. S. Merwin’s chart

W. S. Merwin’s birth chart

Reference chart · birth time unknown

Positions are checked across the whole date. The Moon ranges from 22° to 4° Scorpio or Sagittarius depending on the hour.

AriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoLibraScorpioSagittariusCapricornAquariusPisces123456789101112Moon grinds against Neptune · Square, 0.4° orbMoon flows with Jupiter · Trine, 1.1° orbMercury opens doors for Neptune · Sextile, 1.9° orbSaturn flows with Uranus · Trine, 2.2° orbMoon flows with Uranus · Trine, 2.7° orbSun opens doors for Saturn · Sextile, 3.1° orbJupiter fuses with Uranus · Conjunction, 3.8° orbMars grinds against Pluto · Square, 4° orbSun in Libra · 6°32′☉6°Moon in Scorpio · 28°34′☽28°Mercury in Libra · 26°14′☿26°Venus in Virgo · 8°54′ · retrograde♀℞8°Mars in Libra · 13°08′♂13°Jupiter in Pisces · 27°25′ · retrograde♃℞27°Saturn in Sagittarius · 3°26′♄3°Uranus in Aries · 1°13′ · retrograde♅℞1°Neptune in Leo · 28°09′♆28°Pluto in Cancer · 17°05′♇17°

No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1.

Tap a planet, a sign, a house, an aspect line or an element to see what it means and what sits in it.
Lines drawn
Conjunction 0°
Sextile 60°
Square 90°
Trine 120°
Opposition 180°

Placements

Tap one to light it on the wheel.

The working: aspects, Chiron and the asteroids, dominant planets and configurationsshow

Aspects across every possible birth time

  • stableMoonsquareNeptune0.1° to 6.4° orb

    W. S. Merwin’s feelings grind against their imagination. The friction is lifelong. Worked with, it builds real strength.

  • stableMercurysextileNeptune1.2° to 2.6° orb

    W. S. Merwin’s mind opens doors for their imagination.

  • stableSaturntrineUranus2.1° to 2.3° orb

    W. S. Merwin’s discipline flows straight into their need for freedom.

  • stableSunsextileSaturn2.7° to 3.6° orb

  • stableMarssquarePluto3.6° to 4.3° orb

  • stableJupiterconjunctionUranus3.8° orb

  • stableSunoppositionUranus4.8° to 5.8° orb

  • stableSaturnsquareNeptune5.3° orb

  • stableVenussquareSaturn5.4° to 5.5° orb

  • stableJupitertrineSaturn5.9° to 6.1° orb

  • stableSunconjunctionMars6.4° to 6.8° orb

  • possibleMoontrineJupiterorb from 0.1° to 7.2° depending on birth time

Chart signature

Elements

  • Fire3 of 10
  • Earth1 of 10
  • Air3 of 10
  • Water3 of 10

Modalities

  • Cardinal5 of 10
  • Fixed2 of 10
  • Mutable3 of 10

Counted across the ten planets by sign.

W. S. Merwin’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith

What astrologers make of these five, at noon values.

  • ⚷ Chiron ℞Taurus 4°58′ (moves 0.04° over the day)

    centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it

  • ⚳ CeresSagittarius 18°02′ (moves 0.28° over the day)

    dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured

  • ♡ ErosLibra 8°05′ (moves 0.84° over the day)

    near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire

  • ⚕ HygieaScorpio 8°51′ (moves 0.41° over the day)

    main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well

  • ⚸ Black Moon LilithLibra 23°19′ (moves 0.11° over the day)

    mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed

Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith

  • Hygiea sextile Venus 0.0°
  • Eros conjunction Sun 1.5°
  • Black Moon Lilith conjunction Mercury 2.9°

W. S. Merwin’s dominant planets

  1. 1. ♀ Venus7 pts

    rules the Sun sign, Libra; disposes Sun, Mercury, Mars; 1 major aspect

  2. 2. ♄ Saturn5 pts

    5 major aspects

  3. 3. ☉ Sun4 pts

    disposes Neptune; 3 major aspects

Configurations in W. S. Merwin’s chart

  • stellium, the shape it makesStellium in Libra · Sun, Mercury, MarsThree or more planets in one sign (four, or three with a luminary, by AsterNym's count): a concentration astrologers read as that sign's themes dominating the chart.
  • yod, the shape it makesYod onto Jupiter · Mercury, Neptune, JupiterTwo planets in sextile, both quincunx a third. Astrologers call it the finger of fate and read the apex as an adjustment the chart keeps returning to.

Minor aspects

semi-sextile, semi-square, quintile, sesquiquadrate, biquintile, quincunx.

  • Mars semi-square Neptune 0.0°
  • Jupiter quincunx Neptune 0.7°
  • Mercury quincunx Jupiter 1.2°
  • Saturn sesquiquadrate Pluto 1.3°

More people like W. S. Merwin

Other writers

Born in United States

More charts like W. S. Merwin’s

Fellow Libra suns

All about Libra →

Born in Rabbit years

Year of the Rabbit →

Also born on September 30

Fellow Yin Fire day masters

What a Day Master is →

Other Libra Rabbit charts

Other Radiant Pioneers

The Radiant Pioneer explained →

Famous people with Life Path 4

Life Path numbers explained →

From the journal: Yin and yang: the idea underneath everything else · How accurate is Western astrology?

W. S. Merwin’s cards

Computed from September 30, 1927. Tap to flip.

Birth tarot card

The Fool

AsterNym identity card

The Radiant Pioneer

Western zodiac

Libra

Chinese zodiac

Rabbit 卯

Life Path

4 · Architect

♀ Ruled by Venus

Copper Cu

The working: BaZi pillarsshow

BaZi pillars

Day Master: yin Fire.

Year

丁

yin Fire

卯

Rabbit

Wood

roots & early life

Month

己

yin Earth

酉

Rooster

Metal

work & drive

Day

day master

丁

yin Fire

卯

Rabbit

Wood

you & partnership

Where this comes from, and how it is worked out

W. S. Merwin’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q680368 (CC0), as do the occupations, works and awards above. With no documented birth time this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. The banner above lists what that leaves out. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.

Tropical zodiac, whole-sign houses, modern rulers. Aspects on the western_v1 orb policy; minor ones at 1.5° to 2.5°, skipped where a major already holds. Minor bodies from JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, Lilith as mean apogee. Dominance is an AsterNym score — rulerships, dispositors, aspect count — so other methods can name a different leader.

Portrait by Bernard Tardien, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The same W. S. Merwin at Wikipedia, IMDb and MusicBrainz.

Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. The full method: how it works.

Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions, and not endorsed by W. S. Merwin.

Quick answers about W. S. Merwin’s chart

What zodiac sign was W. S. Merwin?
W. S. Merwin was a Libra: born September 30, 1927, which puts the Sun in Libra for the whole of that day.
What was W. S. Merwin's Chinese zodiac animal?
The Rabbit, with the Fire element, from the Chinese lunar year of the September 30, 1927 birth.
What was W. S. Merwin's Life Path number?
Life Path 4, calculated in numerology.
What was W. S. Merwin's Chiron sign?
Chiron in Taurus at 4°. Position from JPL Horizons.
Where was W. S. Merwin's Black Moon Lilith?
Mean Black Moon Lilith in Libra at 23°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
What was W. S. Merwin's dominant planet?
Venus, on AsterNym's dominance score (7 points: rules the Sun sign, Libra; disposes Sun, Mercury, Mars; 1 major aspect). Saturn is second and Sun third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.

More charts to explore