"The Wedding" was first published by the British-Pakistani poet Moniza Alvi in her second collection, A Bowl of Warm Air (1996). The speaker, a new bride, goes through a surreal wedding ceremony during which abrasive guests overwhelm her with their Englishness and she can't face her groom. After admitting that she'd wanted to marry Pakistan itself (an idealized version of it, at least), the poem ends with the new couple experiencing "turbulence" as they finally look at each other directly. Through a dreamlike account of this strange ritual, which might be an extended metaphor for immigration and assimilation, the poem explores the confusion and disorientation that arises when one feels pulled between multiple cultures and identities.

• Read the full text of “The Wedding”

• “The Wedding” Summary

• “The Wedding” Themes

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    Culture and Identity

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-34

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Wedding”

  • Lines 1-4

    I expected a ...
    ... pot of water.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 5-9

    The ceremony tasted ...
    ... England spilled out.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 10-15

    They scratched at ...
    ... rags and bamboo.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 16-21

    We travelled along ...
    ... view each other.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 22-24

    We stared straight ...
    ... into new cities.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 25-29

    I wanted to ...
    ... a snake-charmer’s snake.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 30-34

    Our thoughts half-submerged ...
    ... on our hands.

    

    

    

    

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• “The Wedding” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Assonance

    

    

    

    

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    Where assonance appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “quiet”
    • Line 2: “high”
    • Line 3: “marriage,” “balance”
    • Line 4: “pot,” “water”
    • Line 12: “insisted,” “simple”
    • Line 17: “my bridegroom,” “I”
    • Line 18: “eyes”
    • Line 19: “like,” “lights”
    • Line 20: “time,” “ripe”
    • Line 23: “we,” “see”
    • Line 24: “breathe”
    • Line 26: “river,” “sing”
    • Line 27: “Jinnah”
    • Line 32: “turned”
    • Line 33: “turbulence”
    • Line 34: “maps,” “hands”

  • Asyndeton

    

    

    

    

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    Where asyndeton appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “a forest of sticks, a pot of water.”
    • Lines 5-6: “The ceremony tasted of nothing / had little colour”
    • Lines 13-15: “a smile, a shadow, a whisper, / my house an incredible structure / of stiffened rags and bamboo.”
    • Lines 23-24: “we could see through mountains / breathe life into new cities.”
    • Lines 25-29: “I wanted to marry a country / take up a river for a veil sing / in the Jinnah Gardens / hold up my dream, / tricky as a snake-charmer’s snake.”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “head / like”
    • Lines 6-7: “arrived / stealthy”
    • Lines 8-9: “suitcases / England”
    • Lines 10-11: “veil / like”
    • Lines 14-15: “structure / of”
    • Lines 16-17: “English / names”
    • Lines 18-19: “colour / like”
    • Lines 20-21: “ripe / for”
    • Lines 22-23: “if / we”
    • Lines 26-27: “sing / in”
    • Lines 30-31: “half-submerged / like”
    • Lines 32-33: “other / with”
    • Lines 33-34: “turbulence / and”

  • Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Line 3: “a marriage to balance on my head”
    • Lines 5-6: “The ceremony tasted of nothing / had little colour”
    • Lines 8-9: “When they opened their suitcases / England spilled out.”
    • Lines 25-26: “I wanted to marry a country / take up a river for a veil”

  • Repetition

    

    

    

    

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    Where repetition appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “a forest of sticks,” “a pot of water”
    • Line 13: “a smile, a shadow, a whisper,”
    • Line 23: “see”
    • Line 24: “breathe”
    • Line 25: “marry”
    • Line 26: “take,” “sing”
    • Line 29: “snake,” “snake”

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 6: “guests”
    • Line 7: “stealthy as sandalwood smugglers.”
    • Line 8: “suitcases”
    • Line 9: “spilled”
    • Line 12: “simple”
    • Line 13: “smile,” “whisper”
    • Line 14: “structure”
    • Line 15: “stiffened”
    • Line 19: “so,” “said”
    • Line 22: “stared straight”
    • Line 23: “see”
    • Line 29: “snake-charmer’s snake”

  • Simile

    

    

    

    

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    Where simile appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-4: “a marriage to balance on my head / like a forest of sticks, a pot of water.”
    • Lines 6-7: “guests arrived / stealthy as sandalwood smugglers.”
    • Lines 10-11: “They scratched at my veil / like beggars on a car window.”
    • Lines 18-19: “Our eyes changed colour / like traffic-lights”
    • Lines 25-26: “I wanted to marry a country / take up a river for a veil”
    • Lines 28-29: “my dream, / tricky as a snake-charmer’s snake.”
    • Lines 30-31: “Our thoughts half-submerged / like buffaloes under dark water”
    • Line 34: “imprints like maps on our hands.”

• “The Wedding” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Sandalwood
  • Stealthy
  • Smugglers
  • Veil
  • Dowry
  • Bamboo
  • Jinnah Gardens
  • Snake-charmer
  • Half-submerged
  • Turbulence
  • Imprints
  • (Location in poem: Lines 6-7: “guests arrived / stealthy as sandalwood smugglers.”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Wedding”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Wedding” Speaker

• “The Wedding” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Wedding”

• More “The Wedding” Resources

  • External Resources

    • A Short Biography — Learn more about Alzi's life and work at the British Library's website.

    • Alvi's Website — Visit Alvi's website to read more of her poetry.

    • Alvi on Her Pakistani Heritage — Listen to a BBC dramatization of another of Alvi's poems, including an interview in which Alvi discusses the way her cultural background has influenced her writing.

    • An Interview With Alvi — Read an interview in which the poet discusses her work. 

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Moniza Alvi

    • An Unknown Girl

    • Presents from My Aunts in Pakistan

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