Ode to a meadowlark

May he find his love again!

Photographer: Ian Britton, licensed under a Creative Commons license. This photo can be found at http://www.freefoto.com/images/806/09/806_09_7656---Summer-Meadow-Arkengarthdale_web.jpg

 

 

Ode to a meadowlark

 

 

Ah, rising sun, kiss morning’s dew

Chill breath of night away thou chase

A sprite from trees there yonder flew

But why flies he away in haste?

As I through meadows lonely pace

 

Crimson orb, paint sky with red

On fields, again, new day doth break

Yet from love’s loss my heart has bled

And Sorrow, joy of life does take

As o’er these fields my way I make

 

And I have suffered now so long

For I have lost my love of years

And so near given up life's song

And openly cried bitter tears

When life's great gladness disappeared

 

But burst of color now does dash!

And heart’ning call of bird I hear

Bright yellow through my tears doth flash

And call so trill without a peer

Defeating grief, my soul does cheer

 

Now wind makes low, I strain to see

Where didst the merry fellow go?

Not in the sky, nor in the tree

There sounds again!  Away and low

Another bird calls to its beau

 

Oh happy bird, I envy you!

You’ll find your love again, I know

You’ll have your love as day renews

To warm your heart when cold wind blows

And shield you from life's winter snows

 

Yet still I cannot help but smile

This cheerful bird to his love sings

As I have stood here for this while

Enraptured song contentment brings

Oh, there he goes--he’s taking wing!

 

 

 

 

The Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta). Unlike the Eastern Meadowlark, the Western Meadowlark has a beautiful song as it calls to its mate. You may hear this bird’s call at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Meadowlark/sounds.

 

Photograph from Wikipedia http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Western_Meadowlark.jpg, taken by Kevin Cole and licensed under Creative Commons.

 

 

Author's Note

To Mark: the ababb rhyme scheme is called "Cinquain"--see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinquain.

To Mollie: Yep. The Eastern Meadowlark was known for a long time while the Western was ignored. And the Eastern Meadowlark has a very uninteresting call compared to the Western Meadowlark.

Readers: If you're unfamiliar with the call of this bird, I encourage you to use the link below the picture to hear it.

To The Thracian: As always, a very detailed review. Thank you. And thank for pointing out the typo. That will be fixed, of course. And you're right, I do take a lot of poetic license in this poem--maybe that's why I like it so much! And yes, I do switch between tenses. But this is intentional. This is a play between the past and the present. Hopefully the past will recede with the power presented by the Meadowlark in the present. Regarding "wind" and "snows", yep, number changes. I have actually tried all combinations. I like this the best. And "life's winter snows" is quite intentional. My wording is not only intended to be literal as in your suggested "wintry snows". The snows need not be, and usually aren't, climatic at all, but emotional. So I'll leave this as it stands. Regarding punctuation, this is a continual battle. I'm in a sparse punctuation mood right now and I don't think meaning is misconstrued by lack of additional punctuation. But I do like this to be pointed out to me as you always correctly do. So thanks again for your most thorough review. Best regards and thanks!

Reviews

[Barbara Walker]

Rick, thank you. This poem lifted my heart as hearing the bird lifted yours! You give so much of yourself to your writing and to WC. I not only get to read your beautiful words, but learn other things, as well. You enrich us all with your gifts of words and knowledge. Thank you, my friend and congratulations!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

wonderful piece, and the format is so perfect...a taste of old time poetry here---felt like i was reading Wordsworth or Longfellow...

nicely done.

j.

[Orchid]

This poem is truly a reader's joy. As I read through all the poems, this one stood out for so many reasons. You write with a classic tone, notably similar to some of my favorite traditional poets.
Well done and thank you for participating! :)

[JayceeC]

Congratulations on your contest win with this. It is easy to see why this was picked. You show your care in every line of the classic cinquain format.
There are some things that break through our moments of sadness and make us stop to take a minute to admire nature. For me that was the sound of mourning doves at dawn outside my window, for you, the flash of a meadowlark and it's song. Birdsong can be such a delightful thing when we just take the moment to watch and listen.
Again, congratulations on your Wizardry award!
jan

[Dillon "Gerald" Steele]

This Is i believe my second poem of yours, and i like this one very much. I think that it kind of reminds me of a Robert frost poem with the rhyme scheme and mood set into it but i love the idea of this poem and its description. It is very detailed and it is able to put a picture in my head just by reading it, thank you for sharing.

[The Hampstead Poet]

Stunning! This is so reminiscent of the writings of such poets as Keats and Wordsworth. I enjoyed this immensely, a reminder of past works and values of the poets of old. Well done!

[Brittany Zedalis]

This is very well written. :]

[Gleb Zavlanov]

Simply stunning! Every word ebbed with grace and beauty. Bravo!

[Mia]

Congratulations on placing first! I love this poem. The amount of time and thought you seem to have put into this poem is intimidating and so is your vast knowledge of things but I will be true to myself and tell you why I enjoyed it so much! I thought through out that I want to have such an epic love that when it ends (only by death) my love would feel lost…trying to find that same love again. I have much respect for you. Also I download the western meadowlark call and I must admit it surprised me…I wasn’t expecting such a distinctive call! Again congratulations and I must say I really am glad you decided to enter!

[Daisie Vergara (Dhaye)]

Excellent! I really love this. I have additional info also. I thought cinquain is written as simply as 5 lines because what I have researched is this is a poetry with five lines. Line 1 has one word (the title). Line 2 has two words that describe the title. Line 3 has three words that tell the action. Line 4 has four words that express the feeling, and line 5 has one word which recalls the title.
I'll check out that link you gave soon. Thanks.

[Rick Puetter]

Dear blue teardrop,

You are correct. This was the initial form of cinquain. However, the form has evolved into a number of related forms over the years.

My very best regards, and thank you for the wonderful review,

Rick