Alcaics for a Wedding

A broadside with black text and a red arrow printed on white paper.

An alcaic is a four line stanza with a complicated metrical scheme, originally devised for use in classical Greek around 600 BCE and that made its way into many other European-language poetries. Marilyn Hacker, a poet noted for her formal dexterity, composed this set of four alcaics in honor of her daughter’s wedding, the alcaic form embodying the adventurous excitement of this new stage in the relationship.

Marilyn Hacker. Alcaics for a Wedding [Walt Whitman Circle broadside]. Tucson: The University of Arizona Poetry Center, 2016.