Call Me Ishmael Tonight: A Book of Ghazals

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Summary: Poetry at the crossroads of cultures
Review: "Call Me Ishmael Tonight: A Book of Ghazals," by Agha Shahid Ali, is a truly distinctive addition to American poetry. The "About the Author" section notes that Ali was a Kashmiri-American who was born in New Delhi and held a number of academic posts in the U.S. before his death in 2001. A short note on the ghazal briefly describes the history and structure of this poetic form.

Each ghazal is made up of a series of couplets. In general the second line of each couplet repeats a rhyme and refrain (with the first couplet of the series using this rhyme and refrain in both lines). For example, the poem "By Exiles" ends three sample lines "...torn wild by exiles," "...compiled by exiles," and "...beguiled by exiles." At first I found the book hard to warm too. The ghazal structure itself struck me as distracting; the form seemed to call too much attention to itself and to overwhelm the content. But I found repeated readings to be rewarding and illuminating.

Ali has a vision with a remarkable multicultural sweep. Woven into the ghazals are many references--Lorca, Oscar Wilde, "The Satanic Verses," Apollo, Pocahontas, Bartleby, Borges, etc. There is a lot of religious material in the poems also, at times making it feel like some boldly contemporary scripture. Other important themes are death, loss, and language.

At times the book has an irreverent or satiric flavor. It is filled with some astonishing imagery. Ultimately "Call Me Ishmael" reads like a meeting place of cultures. At times hypnotic, surreal, apocalyptic, chaotic, ironic, cryptic, and tragic, it's a work of haunting beauty.