So silently you guard your small domain,
steadfast and strong,
and watch o’er all the tiny land you reign
your whole life long.
I saw you first when you were young and small
and never thought you’d grow so big and tall.
Though tempests blew
with strong winds, too,
you stood unwav’ring through it all.
It wasn’t long before your mighty boughs
provided shades,
protecting pretty blossoms while they drowse
and hot air fades.
The birds come perch with praising melodies
in early morn, those feathered devotees.
In afternoon,
return to croon
for you, their fav’rite of the trees.
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Author Notes
Photo taken today in my back yard.
The Ronsardian ode (named after Pierre de Ronsard 1524-1585) is the only kind of ode that specifies a particular rhyming scheme - ababccddc, with syllable counts of 10, 4, 10, 4, 10, 10, 4, 4, 8. The meter is iambic.
An ode is a short lyric poem that praises an individual, an idea, or an event. In ancient Greece, odes were originally accompanied by music - in fact, the word "ode" comes from the Greek word aeidein, which means to sing or to chant. Odes are often ceremonial, and formal in tone.
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