Classic and Contemporary Poetry
NUPTIALS, by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When noon-time comes the whistle blows Last Line: Hauled away. Alternate Author Name(s): Tate, Allen Subject(s): Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives | ||||||||
To J.C.R. She is a public deity; And were't not very odd She should dispose herself to be A petty household god. Orinda When noon-time comes the whistle blows. Down the straight street in jagged rows The multitudinous workmen shamble Past Mike's saloon through swarming flies To the weedy lot where they may gamble With crooked dice and gorge stale pies. It is the hour when stink and sweat Subside to let the flesh forget Affinity for brick and lathe, The cold necessity to bathe -- And certain things one would forget. The bones rattle, the nickels jingle, Nuts and Sevens alternate, A pair of shoes balance fate, And Brady's tongue and finger tingle. Let shoes be lost or shoes be won This night shall be a night of fun: Two dollars now prognosticate An image supine and elate For Jenny sweet will keep the date Early or late. The clock has struck a dismal clack. They tread the same well-trodden track, A hunger flashing in the eye Which jutting bellies would belie. A song is loosed, a fleck of jazz I am the captain of my soul I will climb a greasy pole When six o'clock turns round again And street lamps light the Dark Siren. Along the muddy river's rocky brink A troop of titans trudges in the dusk, No stench rises of hyacinth and musk Nor any pillars of the Athenians, The dusk trails farther down the wharf O darkness of impenetrable might! The clink of empty dinner pails, the thud Of feet, chatter of teeth, fetid eyes: I have lived many years and many lies But not before on the dull stroke of seven. Have I heard whispers on the rickety stair And rain upon the cracked window-pane, Suddenly had visions of beautiful dead hair. Eight nine ten eleven, The arc of justice is the twist of truth Achilles nine times dragged in the mud Wearing my new amethystine ring Mumbling phrases from the Book of Ruth Down to the straight street in luminous quest of truth I go to hear the ladies laugh and sing. Jenny opens the door and grins serenely, Laughs like a sparrow, chirps, recedes, is queenly. The whistle blows for five o'clock. He rubs an eye, pulls on a sock, Observes his bride still in bed, Wonders: Now is she in bed dead? She went to bed after I went to bed ... The dawn sifts through the casement, foggy, Lips are dank and eyes are soggy, But leaps into his overall, Puts on his hat, goes down the hall. Buzzards float upon the sky Shrilling a metaphysic cry, Machines hum, midgets play, Another corpse is hauled away Hauled away. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BLESSING FOR A WEDDING by JANE HIRSHFIELD A SUITE FOR MARRIAGE by DAVID IGNATOW ADVICE TO HER SON ON MARRIAGE by MARY BARBER THE RABBI'S SON-IN-LAW by SABINE BARING-GOULD KISSING AGAIN by DORIANNE LAUX A TIME PAST by DENISE LEVERTOV BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO, 1862-1922 by JOHN ORLEY ALLEN TATE |
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