Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Annie Finch's poem “A Wedding on Earth” is a lush and evocative celebration of marriage, invoking the natural world and mythology to create a vivid portrait of love and partnership. Drawing inspiration from Edmund Spenser's pastoral tradition and his poem "Epithalamion," Finch weaves together images of nature and divine blessings to offer a vision of love rooted in the earth and reaching towards the cosmos.

The poem begins with an invocation to the woods and nature to echo the celebration: “Like the feet that root deep to walk the ground / with circling steps that no one of us can hear.” The metaphor of “circling steps” suggests the cyclical nature of life, love, and marriage. The stanza continues with imagery of leaves falling and blossoms dying only to reappear, symbolizing renewal and the eternal cycle of nature. “As each fruit that drips down the earth’s strong chin / spills new sugar over an ancient face,” Finch establishes the idea that every living thing, including humans, holds seeds that “vibrate alive within.” Marriage becomes a field where these seeds can “pull the world’s embrace / from a new hiding place.”

Finch views marriage as a “field where the earth’s old skin / stretches and releases its fertile seeds,” suggesting that marriage is a fertile ground for growth and new beginnings. Couples, like “shadowed furrows,” are shaped by the patterns of the earth. She calls upon the “Goddess and god of weddings” to bless the couple with abundance and to help them “pair with abundance, to open seeds alive.” The natural imagery emphasizes that marriage should be rooted in the cycles and rhythms of nature.

In the third stanza, Finch asks that this union “make a body of bodies,” uniting the couple in a shared purpose and creating “new answers” through love. She wishes for their love to “quicken warm / heartbeats to loud meetings,” inviting them to fully embrace the “language of your skins.” The imagery of “spinning separate souls in one open flight / back to the real delight” suggests a spiritual elevation and union through physical intimacy.

The fourth stanza connects the couple’s love to the movements of birds and animals, “how the bluejay, eagle, swallows… / move with long-held wings.” This metaphor reflects the grace and beauty found in nature and the instinctual drive towards union. By comparing the couple’s love to that of animals, Finch situates their union within the broader tapestry of life.

Finch explores the intellectual and emotional dimensions of marriage in the fifth stanza, where she imagines marriage as an “intersection of line to pyramid,” representing the union of two minds and the complexities of geometry. She calls upon the “Goddess and god of weddings” to guide the couple “past the edges of partnership, through the lengths / of the days that are moving us.”

The sixth stanza provides a rich blend of imagery that embodies the nature of marriage, describing it as “salt and sweet and spiralling open worlds.” Finch recognizes that marriage is a teacher of joy and a “rough strong teacher of joy, right-gathering wrong,” emphasizing that love is both simple and tangled.

In the final stanza, Finch calls upon the Goddess and god to “make marriage,” inviting the couple to join hands “in the sight of these people and the earth.” This collective blessing symbolizes the community’s role in witnessing and supporting the marriage. Finch envisions a bird finding rest in a valley and other birds “take flight in new kinds of birth,” suggesting that this union will inspire and nurture others.

“A Wedding on Earth” is written in rhymed stanzas, with varied rhyme schemes and rhythms that reflect the poem’s rich tapestry of imagery and themes. The repetition of “Goddess and god of weddings” serves as a refrain, grounding the poem in mythological blessings and linking each stanza to the overarching theme of divine protection and guidance.

In summary, “A Wedding on Earth” is a beautiful and resonant celebration of love and marriage, weaving together natural imagery, mythology, and poetic tradition. Annie Finch crafts a poem that honors the complexity, joy, and challenges of partnership, while invoking the divine to bless and sustain the couple’s union. The poem serves as a testament to the enduring power of love and the ways in which it is intertwined with the rhythms of the natural world.

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