Sunday, October 8, 2017

ODE TO A CLOUD



                   











                                                               

             1.              Like tender thoughts of love nourished and grown
                              Away from worldly woes with care-free heart
                              After stormy blustering blast of passions blown
                              You glide like a lovely song of poetic thought
                              On effortless wings through cool and crystal air
                              With graceful ease on blue sky surface fair.

                  2.         The colors of bashful youth still linger light
                              On thy cheeks with diaphanous delicate hues
                              As thou glidest free through horizons bright
                              With gentle tread scattering pearl-white dew
                              Over grey hills, white mansions and green palms
                              Hanging like a pendant on welkin’s charms;

                  3.        Where is thy goal? Why wanderest thou and where
                             You look in vain with deep blue crazy eyes?
                             Have you forgot your home? How can you fare?
                             No easy path with well-mapped response  lies :
                             How can you cross this endless mysterious maze?
                             This trackless expanse beyond one’s gaze!
  
                4.         This misty domain through which you pass reveals
                            Queer changing shapes of airy shapes in vain;
                            Not only thou, but numberless souls feel
                            Their aimless wandering through this azure plain
                            Like faded leaves driven by stormy gale
                            Looking for clues with anguished faces pale;

               5.          Look, who invites you with endearing charms
                            Thy mother from whose womb thou took thy birth;
                            Who gave thee life and suckled thee in her arms
                            Who filled thy heart with tender love and mirth
                            Who gave thee precious life from her touch divine
                            Look, see her bosom heaves for thee; a sacred shrine.

             6.            O’er mossy lawns, o’er dappled hillocks brown
                            O’er thin-bellied rippling gentle streams
                            You float on arched wings of iris fresh-born
                            Scattering tinted shades through rain-bow gleams
                            Your pace slows down and dissolves thy airy breath
                            Into pattering drops to kiss the earth beneath.
   

       7.                Assuming various shapes through sunny beams
                          Quenching the thirst of trees and growing corn
                          Giving fresh lease of life to dried up streams
                          You travel unwearied at night till morn
                          Flashing lightning smiles and thundering roar
                          As blithesome drops of rain incessantly pour.

        8.               Thy visit kindles warm light of hope and love
                          Thou, messenger of God’s precious mercy
                          Our bosoms dance as thou decked with rain-bow
                          Dissolve thyself in thrilling ecstasy
                          Touch this earth with thy rapturous sounds.
                          The rush of swishing winds leaps out of bounds.                      

                   
      9.                 Thou, blue bird of heaven, come swift and soon
                          Thou, glory of God! Angel of generous grace
                          Throwing thy silver veil over the moon
                          Gladden our eyes with thy cool refreshing pace
                          Dissolve thyself  from thy heavenly spires
                          In glistening hues of pearls and shining sapphires.
                                                                               
      10.              Descend slowly like a light snow-white swan
                         Descend, Oh cloud, in scintillating tears!
                        Tinged with rosy tints of awakening dawn
                        To kiss mother earth with devotion clear
                        Shed thy long-journey’s burden and recline
                        Settling thyself in peaceful cool weather fine.
    

     Note : This poem is a revised and improved version of the poem composed in 1971. It was very crude and not well-organized and was composed on the spur of the moment. Now I re-organized the poem and added some more thoughts to bring it to the present shape. In this poem the influence of Shelley's famous odes "To the cloud" and "West Wind" is seen. The cloud represents the journey of the soul in this world searching for its original home. Ultimately it finds its source in Mother nature from where it is sprung. The cloud also represents God's mercy and kindness towards creation. The cloud is the 'Angel of generous grace' and is 'the blue bird of heaven". It floats on arched wings of rainbow and showers rain "in glistening hues of pearls and shining sapphires."The cloud gives life to dried up streams and makes all happy with its rapturous dance and lightning smiles. The cloud is like a soul freed from raging passions and obsessions and finally settles itself in peaceful state of love and joy.

                          ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


     Ref :                   Iris = Greek goddess of "Rainbow"
                                Diaphanous  = thin and airy; very fine
                                Dappled       =  marked with patches
                                scintillating = shining or exciting



          6th october, 2017                                             Somaseshu Gutala
                        






                                
          

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