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Ode to the Sun
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I
Oh first and longest-lasting of my friends,
Helen Aurelia, how can I express
Through this guitar o’er which my finger bends,
And these fine words, each wanting in finesse,
The warmth with which you lovingly caress
My frail and frigid form upon the morn?
A form you helped to strengthen and to bless
From that bleak day on which I had been born,
And flourish like a rose that frost had overborne.
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II
Early in Spring, upon a lofty peak
Belonging to the soaring Six des Eaux,
You start ascending after dawn, to seek
The source of life there frozen in the snow,
While I who look in wonder from below
At how you move and melt the mountaintops,
Feel as you kiss their face and cause to flow
A stream that having started hardly stops,
My thawing heart dissolving into joyful drops.
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III
Of all the breeds, of all the breadth of being
That you have witnessed gathered or dispersed
In meadows, plains, and mountaintops far-seeing,
No beast that is compelled to quench its thirst
Miles from its home, to where the clouds might burst,
Has wandered in the world as far as I,
Whom love and lack of you have long coerced
Further to roam, and like a wren to fly
To that horizon where you touch the land and sky.
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IV
When in the winter of my weary life
I lose my strength, my stamina, my sight,
And lie down lonesome, widowed of my wife,
No more to hear the words ‘God bless, good night’,
But echoing sounds that set my heart affright
Like creaking walls, or creeping mice at play,
While dreading shadows born of candlelight;
To know each morning you are on your way
Will help me to endure another lonely day.
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V
But even, even after I have viewed
For one last time, your flight from East to West,
Knowing my days, with that one, must conclude,
And that the state of subterranean rest
Deprives me of your heat against my breast;
So strong will be my will to feel once more
Your warm embrace, that from my buried chest
Flowers then sprouting from my soul will soar,
To let me feel you in my arms forevermore.
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Daniel Joseph Howard studied law in his native Ireland, earned an MA in philosophy at King’s College London and worked for the European Commission. He is currently a pensionnaire étranger at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, as well as a Teaching Fellow and PhD candidate in the United States.
I love this one, Daniel — both the profound subject matter, and your masterful use of form, especially the consistent rhyme scheme and the skillful use of the alexandrine as the climax of each verse.
In the second verse, your description of the snow melting, and your comparison of that to “My thawing heart dissolving into joyful drops” is a most beautiful use of imagery and metaphor. Though there are so many marvelous lines and phrases, I would have to say that verse five is my very favorite. “Knowing my days, with that one, must conclude” sounds so simple yet is a profound way of saying what the poem is expressing; and the “subterranean rest” from which flowers sprout from the chest is exquisite. Thank you for this lovely gem!
Thank you Cynthia for your very kind comment and for letting me know your favourite stanza.
Daniel, this is a magnificent ode–and a song accompanied by the guitar as well. The “fine words” are singable, and comprehensible, I believe, even to a listener without the text in front of him or her. They are carefully structured; I admire your facility with syntax and adherence to grammar. But more important, you are never far from the sun who receives your song. There are many details characterizing and praising the solar orb and its effects. This is a love poem, too, celebrating the love of one who remains far above. Her chosen name is applicable to the sun, and the location where the reading or singing takes place is one of high altitude. The time scheme shines clearly, and comes to a beautifully unexpected sunset for the singer. You make expert use of the Spenserian stanza form. Overall, this is a wonderfully tender example of the stateliest of lyric genres. The mention of the guitar reminds me of some of your shorter poems, and thus helps sign it as your own. Well done!
Thank you Margaret for another of your characteristically generous and insightful comments. You have an excellent memory to recall the guitar image from a previous poem!
I think that the Spenserian is one of the most lofty and musical English stanzas. Even though it is usually associated with long narrative poems like Spenser’s Faerie Queene or Bryon’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimmage, I find it is very well suited to the Ode because it shares its grandeur.
Daniel.
Thank you, Mr. Howard. This is a gem in a world in which songs of thanks and praise are rarely thought of.
Thanks for your kind words, Julian.
A poem that begs re-reading. Some fantastic imagery (I loved the ‘echoing sounds that set my heart affright / Like creaking walls, or creeping mice at play).
A profound journey ending in a cracking couplet.
Thanks for the read.
Appreciate it, Paul.