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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


GHAZALS: 15 by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHY DID THIS SHEEP DIE? THE LEGS ARE THIN, STOMACH HUGELY
Last Line: METAPHOR FOR THE GENERALLY FELT HIDDEN-BEHIND-BUSHES SORROW.
Subject(s): ART & ARTISTS; DEATH; GRIEF; SHEEP; DEAD, THE; SORROW; SADNESS;

Why did this sheep die? The legs are thin, stomach hugely
bloated. The girl cries and kicks her legs on the sofa.

The new marvels of language don't come up from the depths
but from the transparent layer, the soiled skin of things.

In London for puissant literary reasons he sits with the other
lost ones at a Soho striptease show. An endless oyster bar.

We'll need miracles of art and reason to raise these years
which are tombstones carved out of soap by the world's senators.

We'll have to move out at dawn and the dew is only a military
metaphor for the generally felt hidden-behind-bushes sorrow.



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