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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


MARRIAGE GHAZAL by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: HAMMERING & DRIFTING. SEA WRACK. CAST UPON & CAST OUT
Last Line: IN AN ARC WHEN SHE SAT & THEY BUILT A BOAT TOGETHER.
Subject(s): MARRIAGE; WEDDINGS; HUSBANDS; WIVES;

Hammering & drifting. Sea wrack. Cast upon & cast out.
Who's here but shore? Where we stop is where shore is.

I saw the light beyond mountains turned umber by morning.
I walked by memory as if I had no legs. Or head.

In a bed of reeds I found my body and entered it,
taking my life upon myself, the soul made comfortable.

So the body's a nest for the soul and we set out inland,
the figure of a walker who only recognized the sea and moon.

And coming to the first town the body became a chorus --
O @3my god this is a place or thing and I'll stay awhile.@1

The body met a human with fur and the moon mounted her head
in an arc when she sat & they built a boat together.



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