Best Epode Poems
strophe
I stand on the snow covered mountain
Colorful vase of flowers
Slopes with flower beds laden
I saw the snow lotus flowers
I asked, “Why are you all alone here?
Beauty is meant to be adored.
Should give yourself to somebody
Before your petals fall to dust soon, dear.
What if I crushed your petals, I asked
As at these heights, you are quite lonely”..
antistrophe
One of the flowers quickly responded
“I enjoy the shelter of blue skies.
I would be too glad
If you choose to crush my petals
My fragrance will spread everywhere.
Fulfilling the purpose and duty
If destroyed, not admired.
By plucking my petals, remember
You won’t gather my beauty,
Beauty is to see, not to be plucked'.
epode
“O’ lotus, you teach wisdom to man
Praise her beauty, don’t destroy her.
It is the gladdest thing under the sun
Touch a hundred flowers not pick ever”
O’ man, pluck not wayside flower even
It is the traveler’s dowers.
Silently a flower blooms alone
And in silence it falls down
If I am worth many pleasures,
I think I am too few then”.
===================================
June 15, 2014
Form : Ode
First Place win in
Contest: My favorite poem by Carol Eastman
===================================
Form: Ode (the Homostrophic or Horatian Ode)
Rhyme scheme: ABABCDECDE (Ten lines)
Second place winner in
Contest: Ode sponsored by Jared Pickett
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This is the English Ode, also called the Homostrophic or Horatian Ode.
The Romantic Ode often followed the Irregular Ode's structure
and the Homostrophic Ode's meditative quality.
====================================
The poem also won the second place in the International Poetry
Contest of 2011 by Poetry Soup.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ode to the people of Norway
Strophe
O, the darkness has descended on a paradise
Of Norway’s bounties of nature
On the people living a quiet life
Not concerned about the politics ever
A drug addict, calling himself a warrior
Taking pride of being a savior of Europe
Unmindful of the death toll of the young
Rejoicing in the tears falling from their eyes
A Hitler has raised his ugly head up
Polluting the minds of the old and the young.
Antistrophe
But trying to take a refuge to insanity
Taking drugs to make himself efficient and awake
Priding over to start war for years sixty
Pleading not guilty to terrorism namesake
Though confessing to bombing and rampage
But remaining unaffected by what happened
Thus his plea assures him of future court hearings
By the attacks Norway is riveted with rage
By Breivik’s paranoid writings stunned
Hundreds thronged the courthouse proceedings.
Epode
With tears in their eyes people paid homage
To the victims laying roses a few feet deep
While the killer faces 21 years in prison
The stiffest sentence can be given by a Norwegian judge
His lawyer says the whole case suggests his client is insane
The Royal couple consoled people and tears shed
The prime minister called it a national tragedy
And summed it up “evil can never defeat a nation”
The killer may enjoy Halden, the luxurious jail in the world
Where cells have flat TV and designer furniture facility.
+++++++++
* I wrote this poem two years back when the tragedy took place. Not posted anywhere
Date 4-11-13
Dr. Ram Mehta
Tenth Place win
Contest: Ode (Old/new) poetry by SKAT Love
(1)
Strophe
Slowly and slowly fly the mighty feathers:
the uncanny wrath bearer, the poacher's prey,
the bald bizzare stigmatic cryptic creature, the ecology's majestic role player;
the curtain raiser of ecosystem's air purifier.
Alas! Your iconographic role is omitted,
you, the saviour of the mortal race
from the contagious diseases.
Astounded! How you uncontaminated dear environment.
Your poaching has taken away
the soul of the balanced ecosystem;
crucial is saviour friend's presence, on the verge of extinction plight might have horrid ripple effect!
(2)
Antistrophe
Irony! The friend's void can't be substituted by mere replicas of sustainable development;
the diminishing existence will
drastically affect the local food webs!
How alluring to have a glimpse
of the hunch and tuck of the bird's head in the cold,
flapping and fluttering the wings,
stretching the neck in the heat!
You, remain aloft for hours,
soars gracefully on long broad wings;
with dazzling sharp eyes
from the highlands to pick the carrion!
(3)
Epode
Your iconographic presence is being honoured by the myths, legends, fables of civilizations from ages.
High time to contemplate, to introspect,
to jump into the ecosystem's integral bandwagon:
as pivotal to rescue and redeem the bird's friendly endangered existence!
All Rights Reserved © Silpika Kalita
"O Yellow Lily! You smilingly bloom
Early in the morning in my terrace garden,
In a jiffy, you take away all gloom,
Tell me, in front of you, can any heart harden?"
"O White Lily! What makes your face to brighter shine?
What do you nod at behind my kitchen window?
How do you dress so beautifully every morn?
Lovely your visage, each detail crafted so fine,
My heartbeat, seeing you, reaches a crescendo,
I write to thank you, my heart's with happiness torn."
"O poet! I bloom where God has placed me,
Bursting at crack of dawn, just as He tells me to,
If on seeing me, your gloom turns to glee,
That's all His doing, I'm just a lily for you."
"O dear friend! I've learned to enjoy my life, it's short,
To God, my Creator, I'm nodding back my thanks,
For He clothes me majestic, though I'm mere flora,
Here today, gone tomorrow, I bud to exhort -
Live without worries, He'll provide from His rich banks,
Thank God if you would, shine for Him each aurora."
Even the lovely lilies of the field
Remember to praise God, how then can I forget?
As long as I live, my lips can't be sealed,
Great lessons I have learnt from these lilies I met.
04/11/17
1st stanza- Strophe
2nd stanza- Antistrophe
3rd stanza- Epode
Rhyme scheme: abab cdecde, abab cdecde, abab
Syllable count : 1st and 2nd stanzas: 10 12 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
3rd stanza: 10 12 10 12
Strophe
The polygamist had a big house
Where he chose to warehouse hundreds of girls
And women including 29 stepmothers, his father’s spouses
56 of the girls were each other’s sisters.
And 24 were under the age of seventeen.
Some of the young wives even assisted passions
The pedophile with his sexual assaults
Telling the girls that if they refused to please his preen
In what he dubbed the “heavenly sessions”
They would be “rejected by God’s favorite cult.
Antistrophe
Wives were both the victims of his abuse
And the accomplices subjected to a cruel
World of worship and sexual abuse
And were so indoctrinated and used cool.
Who cruelly bred them for manipulation.
Calling himself the ‘humble servant’ of God
Asking the girls to please God to atone community’s sins
Oh, the wives of the notorious polygamist’s predation
Into the twisted world of subjugation fold
With which he surrounded himself amidst the teens.
Epode
Had a wisdom tooth for his sexual gratification
Raping the young girls in his big house to make housewives
The State of Texas has a big house for lamentation
Where he will spend the rest of his life’s cloves
Well, he will have plenty of time to repent.
And think deeply on the meaning of life
Out of the 50 wives none of the parents got relief
Where are the parents of these young girls tormented?
Does that mean all were brainwashed for strife?
So scary that pedophilia can be masked as religious belief.
.===============================================
Dr. Ram Mehta
First Place win in :
Contest: A Toothful Ode by nancy jones
** This is the English Ode, also called the Homostrophic or Horatian Ode.
The Romantic Ode often followed the Irregular Ode's structure
and the Homostrophic Ode's meditative quality.
Rhyme Scheme : ABABCDECDE (Ten lines)
Strophe
Ye, the goddess of flame, fire and eternal love
From Tahiti you found home in Hawaii Kilauea
I accessed your gateway with deep feelings of love
With your archetypes *Kali Ma, Sekhmet and Durga
You falsify that women are weak and incapable
That to be feminine to be fragile and helpless
You’re a beauty with dignity & divine power all
Ability to shape shift woman or crone effortless.
Known as Pele energy or energy Pele-kino-aha-nei
Your four sisters using same will Pele-kino-aha-nei.
Antistrophe
As a young woman you fell in love with Lohiau
As you left volcano, pining for you & dying nearly
You sent Hiiaka for him, she fell in love with Lohiau
You found Kamapua, but allowed them to marry.
All in Hawaii know your defined potential of fire
And stories about your many loves & infidelities
Your father sent you away because of your hot temper
As you seduced your sister’s husband with abilities.
Finally in Hawaii with blatant infidelities and passions
Manifested in the Big island’s volcanic activities.
Epode
Because Hawaii sits on the mountaintops of Lemuria
Lemurian Goddess energy is a still a strong vibration
Coming to Hawaii, feels good like coming home area
Within their cellular consciousness with love’s vibration.
Ye, Goddess Pele is surprisingly playful and light
With three dynamics, well being, play and flow
You, as healer, love to heal and love to be brought
If not treated with respect , you have the power to blow.
All visitors you listen to the Pele archives as I do
Believe that miracles can come from teachings due.
+++
* Names of Indian Goddesses
music's turning little dance sing the sonettos cabriole a turning stance ballerina's toe ~ tops cheval bureau a glance songs of little strophe on look the spiraling chance day dreams étoile's soul
Keeling
epode masts
tilt horizon’s sun
collecting crimson
Her sails ablaze
make mauve
evanesce
(9/22/2020: '97 Sea Ray 550 Sedan Bridge; Septolet contest)
Strophe
I
O mycorrhiza, natures inter net.
This inter net does keep all plants alive .
It beats out what our race has thought as yet.
The natural world around it does thrive.
II
Trees struck by lightning ,finished by decay.
The Net enacts signs to the biosphere
Mycorrhiza knows and does save the day.
The Net does save the ecosphere is that clear ?
III
This food does helps a lot of damaged trees.
Trees kept alive as long as they can stand.
The Net restores a lot of trees with ease
Mycorrhiza the way to heal the land.
IV
‘shrooms good to eat I relay at the least
The Lions mane ,Reishi are good for health
Find Boletes and Chanterels -what a feast! ,
And the Turkey-tail shroom, Wow !you own wealth
Antestrophe
I
Fire burns deadwood at the place it does fall
They free up space ; release fresh food they do.
Black Morels grow in burnt out soil ,I recall
Remember the sun and rain they help too.
II
Eat meat and fowls and fish all good for you
Drink V8 it will keep you so healthy
Eat fruit and veggies all good for you too
Deduce the rede above you are wealthy .
III
And many mushrooms are poisonous too,
The Fly Agaric white spotted red cap ‘shroom ,
The Sickener ,red cap-white stripe bad for you,
Fly Agaric most likely brings your doom.
IV
The Deathcap mushroom surely is deadly,
There are many others that aren’t reckoned,
Eating a deadly one kills you quickly,
Unknown shroom located, it should be questioned.
Epode
I
The fifth kingdom is surely wondrous,
We know a little measure about fungus,
In school it’s in microbiology ,
We know more on standard biology.
II
There’s a field called Radical Mycology ,
Peter McCoy created this hip field,
Earth’s Net as model of ecology,
If you practise carefully you should get healed. .
III
When picking strange mushrooms carry a guide ,
If you eat them your ride might be a hurst,
If they are edible wash them ,try them fried ,
Do not heed my advice|things might be worst .
IV
And Natures ' Net does hold plants together
It feeds them all in good or bad weather ,
And eating healthy food keeps one stout ,
And Natures. ways certainly deep I shout !
Strophe
I
O ancient cedar tree so grand and wise
In BC’s old growth forest ,I found thee
I sat beneath your trunk and asked advice ;
I sensed the presence of the cedar tree
II
I received a riposte to my surprise
Cedar shouted my blood dead ? Ask my rede ?!
Begone two legs I will not speak this twice
Clear cut plans for old growth glens, sad ,'nuff said
III
I find these trees are beatific and grand.
I grasp the cedar’s anger ,felt dismay.
Its views I did not dismiss out of hand.
I got up when done without a delay.
Antistrophe
I
The Angel Oak ,Redwood trees are lovely too.
There are more beatific trees that folk will find.
The next road trip you take find them can you?
This method is broadly better design.
II
Clear cutting of a forest,not a crime.
Helps species that cannot endure the shade,
Wisely used younger trees gets sunshine.
Trees that can not stand the shade have it made
III
Feeling bad about seeing forests tree free
Try tree planting along denuded frontier
Hard work to bring back its ancient beauty
And tree seeding is gold ,be a volunteer
Epode
I
Huge Ancient trees with such a huge life span.
All ancient trees cry out to be adored
Pick and choose,you’re a narrow minded man.
Mind meld with trees is your reward.
II
Clear cutting cost is to high for younger trees
And boreal clear cutting -a climate threat
They need light ,try selective cutting please.
And stop this action there will be no regret
III
Balance is scales of justice is the best scheme
Keep the woods for a-future generations
Create an ecosystem that is a dream
Reforestation has vast reparations
Strophe
I
Outside on the terrace ,I feel at peace
I hear bird songs they so fill me with cheer
My bugbears for a while outside do cease
My mind is quiet and I feel no fear
Doing Shikantaza puts me at ease
Inner mind practice needed, is this clear?
Digging“ shamanic” tunes does do the trick
My soul feels at peace and I don’t get sick
II
Being with nature for me is the cure
The longer I am here, these facts are clear
A peaceful Oak grove to sit in for sure
I must find a way to get out of here
A grove with many trees I’d feel secure
Be like an Angel Oak and persevere
Have to find a way to keep myself sane
I must find the key,no time to complain.
AnteStrophe
I realize you don’t like where you are,
Can you find a therapist to chill you out ?
You’re there pro tem even if it’s bizarre
They can help you for sure without a doubt
Try deep thought or breath work both a good route
Follow this advice and you won’t burnout
Take care and stay grounded whatever you do
Balance your routine then you won’t get screwed.
Epode
Both sides give good advice to keep me sane
I will start up Box Breath work where I be
Breath work is good for health,you cant complain
Writing poems not stated I acclaim
Writing poetry surely does help me
Diet not mentioned food here is does suck
Even if it were told I’m out of luck lan
Strophe
O Grandpa Davis who gave me my skill
My art talents ,organic, came from you
Sorry I haven’t praised you ,now .I will
Your art and talents I admire you so
Your art is an inspiration to me,
Once I lost my home; most of your art gone,
It should have been enjoyed for all to see ,
T’is a wicked act ; I do frown upon.
Antestrope
Talent is work and some inspiration ,
Organic ability not much proof ,
Work hard with lift no misinformation ,
If you believe all of it you got spoofed.
And talent is one percent makes art great.
And work is sixty percent of one’s art ,
And skill is forty percent I state,
All three in harmony is a good start.
Epode
O Grandpa Davis I wish you were alive ,
If dreams are gold meeting you is jive,
You died 5 years before I was born .
Seeing your art I was wowed-forgot to mourn.
In figure drawing your skill is mythic
Your pastel work of your wife is terrific
And Grandpa Davis my ode to you is done,
It’ is time I penned it for everyone.
I. Strophe
O, dark ode! Shall this dim Melancholia
inflame anew my grief’s funereal rhyme?
O, dark ode! The wan end of my mania
draws nigh to seal me ere my fated time.
When rapture wanes, when bliss breathes death’s cold breath,
the body droops while thought endures its pain;
when the world’s light fades from all man’s leisure:
what pulse of life survives that beats in vain?
O Muses! Grant once more heaven’s breath,
and wake new spirit in this song’s dark measure.
II. Antistrophe
O midnight Muse! Pale friend of solitude,
descend once more where hollow whispers climb.
Through thought’s dim vale, by grief’s own interlude,
I wander, haunted by my former prime.
If joy be brief, yet sorrow knows long breath,
its cadence tolls through every mortal vein.
So be it then—let pain be my true treasure,
the somber gold no tempests can profane.
O darkness! Crown this heavy heart’s calm death,
and seal thy vow within this sacred measure.
III. Epode
Yet in this twilight’s hush, one bloom remains:
Rose, bright soul! whose kindness soft redeems my scars.
Though Melancholia still haunts my veins,
thy voice restores the music of the stars.
Where all was ash, thy laughter wakes the fire,
where night was void, thy word restores the day.
Thou art the pulse that bids my grief aspire,
the living psalm that drives my grief away.
O friend divine! With thee the heart never burns,
when love survives by all your graceful turns.
And if I fade, still let my spirit prove:
one faithful heart outweighs the world’s unlove.