Arriveth he in some small big foot fall
But know we for sure when once mighty and
Wide frothy river shivers now to crawl
Beneath new silver blanket – \”tis too stunn\’d
Ah! Blame it not – can thee hear the heart wheeze?
The chill got under the skin to deep freeze
Its sparse flow yet life might not but go on
Not over the top but down and below
The burrows full of thin beats with no brawn
Lean arctic squirrels buried in grave snow
And icy brain feel the pain not again
As, not so short hibernal drowse gets hold
Does it tell us, I wonder – lie low when
The going gets too hot or rather cold.
When bitin\’ purga roars from Nord unknown
Ah! Hear harsh tranquil on all bawlin\’ fronts
Life whole take break save one with monster crown
The bull with palmate antler pulls off stunts
Through sunless dire day, wanders full faint nights
To hunt green moose moss under lunar lights
That serve a beacon to roam milky realm And squishy carpet white caress hoofed feet
The banished sun sends flamin\’ wind to whelm
Ow! Our old lonely orb can only bleat
Wet tears streak down on its cheeks all the way
Sky- angered beau- retort with thunder blaze
Does it tell us, I wonder – on days grey
New paths illumine to drive away haze.
Ah! Miles and miles and miles of ghost parade
Not so gay, naked larch stand still and queer
To mourn the loss of ego very dear
Afore, the brown leaves fell down lot afraid
Knew, cold shall crack its spiky spine smart
Hunch hauled it to floor but left old dame sore
Ah! Beauty bleak tore my tender heart
But, sans tinge of sour, life be bland and bore
And canvas of life need shades many
Of green and gold and white in plenty
Like Arctic fox that sly behind white bear
All seasons too go after the Big Ben
Does it tell us, I wonder- if we dare,
Our sojourn brief shall be mad fun. Amen!
P.S: This ode is a Pindaric ode which follows the ABABCCDEDEFGFG rhyming sequence and iambic pentameter in the first two canoes, the strophe and antistrophe. The last canto, epode, has to be structurally different from the other two canoes. My epode has ABBAcDcDeeFGFG rhyming where the lowercase letters represent feminine rhymes (stressed on the penultimate syllable or having 9 syllables) and the uppercase representing masculine rhymes (stressed on the ultimate syllable or with 10 syllables).
P.S 2: Meaning and explanation
Wheeze – breath with a whistling or rattling sound in the chest, as a result of an obstruction in the air passages, might not but – must (Shakespearean).
The winter arrives when many feet (or meters) of snowfall. The author claims that to escape from the cold, the rivers cover themselves with a thick blanket of ice. But life (fish) swims below its frozen surface. Similarly, life exists in the burrows of arctic squirrels which hibernate for almost 8 months and reduce their heartbeat to one per minute to conserve energy.
Purga – a cold wind in Siberia, Nord – north, squishy- soft and moist.
The howling blizzards cause an eerie silence but the moose goes about its life as if nothing is happening. The sun which is angry because it is banished by winter sends solar winds to take revenge. It hurts the earth and unable to bear its cries, the sky creates beautiful colored lights (Aurora borealis).
afore – before, Big Ben – famous clock in London (here, it signifies \’time\’).
The author is pained by the sight of leafless Coniferous forests but assumes that the leaves have fallen off on their own in fear of biting chill before the onset of winter. But he consoles himself that even such a bleak scene is also part of the vagaries of nature and we should try to enjoy all seasons and similarly, all types of emotions to have real fun in life.
Author: – Ravi R. Chokkalingam