Nature Poetry

"On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it." (Jules Renard)

Nature inspires us to create.  Here are eight poems which focus on God's beauty.

1.  I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth at http://www.inspirational-poems.net/famous-nature-poems/131-i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud.

2.  Birches by Robert Frost at http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/birches.

3.  Hummingbird by Emily Dickinson at http://www.inspirational-poems.net/famous-nature-poems/140-hummingbird-poem.

4.  Ode on the Spring by Thomas Gray at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173569.

5.  Ode to Autumn by John Keats at http://www.poemhunter.com/poems/autumn/page-/17674/.

6.  Snowflakes by Clive Sansom at http://allpoetry.com/poem/8621643-Snowflakes-by-Clive-Sansom.

7.  The Tuft of Flowers by Robert Frost at http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/poems/698.html.

8.  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou at http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/111/i_know_why_the_caged_bird_sings.

http://imgbuddy.com/william-wordsworth-i-wandered-lonely-as-a-cloud.asp

Enjambment: An Endless Flow

From the French word for the phrase "to straddle", the enjambment is a form of poetry which often has no punctuation at the end of each line to indicate a stop.  There is a continuation of the sentence from one line to the next, giving the poem a constant flow.  This helps to reinforce the main idea, without the constant pauses at the end of each line.  Sometimes the poet leads the reader to think one way, then reverses his approach in the next line.  The rhythm is fast paced.

Joyce Kilmer's "Trees" is an example of an emjambment.

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray.

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robin's in her hair.

Upon whose bosom snow has lain

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me

But only God can make a tree.

https://bryanmorse.wordpress.com/tag/trees/

William Shakespeare used the form in his plays including Romeo and Juliet.  (http://thewritepractice.com/enjambment/)  John Keats' Endymion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endymion_%28poem%29) follows the enjambment pattern as does William Wordsworth's It is a Beauteous Evening (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174793).

The Ode: Pindaric, Horatian, Irregular

The ode comes from the Greek word "aeidein" which means to sing or to chant.  The original odes were accompanied by music while later versions were usually recited.  An ode is a formal address to a person, thing or event.

The Pindaric ode, named after the Greek poet Pindar, was often composed to celebrate athletic victories.  Greece, of course, is the home of the Olympics.  The Pindaric is divided into three stanzas, the strophe, or introduction, the antistrophe, and the epode, which demonstrates a different metre than the first two stanzas.  William Wordsworth's "Ode on Intimations of Immortality" is a famous English ode at http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/ode-intimations-immortality-recollections-early-childhood.

http://www.poetseers.org/the-romantics/william-wordsworth/library-2/ode-on-intimations-of-immortality/

The Horatian ode, named after the Greek poet Horace, is "better suited to quiet reading than theatrical production".  It demonstrates a recurrent stanza pattern.  Each stanza is of two or four lines in length. See Allen Tate's "Ode to the Confederate Dead" at http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/ode-confederate-dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm6vRTMDOtY

The Irregular ode, while exhibiting a different form than the Pindaric or Horatian, shares the same tone and themes as the other two forms.  See John Keats' "To Autumn" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Autumn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EBRax6wxxI

The traditional rhyming scheme for an ode is:  ABABCDECDE.  For tips on how to write you own ode, visit http://www.webexhibits.org/poetry/explore_classic_ode_make.html.