James Merrill had a great influence on Shahid's poetry.

Explanation:
James Merrill was an American poet and writer who had a significant impact on Shahid's poetry. Merrill's work was known for its complexity, formal innovation, and exploration of personal and universal themes. His poetry often blended personal experiences with mythology, history, and spirituality.

Shahid was deeply influenced by Merrill's poetic style and the way he crafted his poems. Merrill's use of language, imagery, and symbolism resonated with Shahid and influenced his own approach to writing poetry. Shahid admired Merrill's ability to create a rich and layered poetic world that combined the personal and the universal, and he sought to emulate this in his own work.

Merrill's exploration of identity and the self also had a profound impact on Shahid. As someone who grappled with questions of identity and belonging, Shahid found solace and inspiration in Merrill's poems. Merrill's poems often dealt with themes of love, loss, and the search for meaning, which were central to Shahid's own poetic journey.

Furthermore, Merrill's use of form and structure was influential to Shahid. Merrill was known for his expertise in traditional poetic forms such as sonnets and villanelles, as well as his experimentation with new forms. This inspired Shahid to explore different poetic structures and techniques in his own writing, pushing the boundaries of what was considered conventional.

Overall, James Merrill's innovative style, exploration of personal and universal themes, and mastery of poetic form had a profound influence on Shahid's poetry. Through Merrill's work, Shahid found a mentor and a source of inspiration that shaped his own poetic voice and contributed to his development as a poet.