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!

[modtoddinc]

very nice poem.

[Steve M]

A masterpiece in the sense of classics. The words paint a magnificent picture.

[Eloha]

Just an fyi, this poem is getting more votes than this contest has EVER seen.

[Fran Marie]

this just absolutly beautiful ....both in content and poetic expression~

you got my vote~ Kudos

[...]

A beautiful work of art! Mother nature the best nurse of all:) Stunning!

[Marie]

Poets are supposed to take poetic license; too much beauty and passion and lyricism is lost otherwise. I love the Victorian feel of this and also the conrast between the sorrow of the poet and the happy forgetfulness that this colourful bird imparts.

[Wendy Seames Garner]

Oh, how lovely!! Very Shakespearean in sound and all the references you put with it, thanks so much for the wonderful read, Rick.

[GunMetal]

I really enjoyed reading this. The flow of it was very welcoming and put me right into the place from which this poem came. The natural beauty of this world is a wonderful things. Thank you for this.

[Siddhartha]

All my past trysts and happy memories of Wordsworth came rushing back when I started reading this piece. The tone, the meter, the language and even the subject are so delightfully classical and yet it appeals just as well in these modern times. Nice work, my friend. Thank you.