Serenade
__Late summer’s twilight skies
Hum with the song of a thousand faint voices—
_A choir of myriad sprites that rejoices
__In shadow and moonlight.
_Loud it resounds, though it lies
Deep in bough-shadows hidden. Like a dream
_The silhouetted treetops themselves seem
__To serenade the night.
__Now listen—hear the song,
The lulling hum, micropolyphony
Of seeming chaos merged to harmony
__Primordial yet thrilling.
__Listen! You have not long:
The silent nights of winter fast draw near,
When naught but windswept silence meets the ear
__That longs to hear this trilling.
Happy the Flower
Happy the flower that blooms when autumn’s breath
First cools September’s torpid skies to paint
The languid foliage and days grown faint
With life’s last burst, its climax reached at death—
Happier than the flower of budding spring
With naïve pastel hues, that drinks fresh rains
Then withers long before the sun’s course wanes,
For long days left unnoticed, languishing.
But happier still the flower whose stem is cut
At summer’s height, unravished by decay,
Resplendent in its fullest, brightest bloom:
Like autumn’s it concludes in glory, but
Like spring’s deigns not reserve its bright array—
Height and end admired in a crystal tomb.
Adam Sedia (b. 1984) lives in his native Northwest Indiana and practices law as a civil and appellate litigator. He has published four books of poetry and his poems, essays, and fiction have appeared in various literary journals. He is also a composer, and his musical works may be heard on his YouTube channel.
Adam, your musicality really is shining forth in “Serenade”– I really like this particular form, ABBCADDC– that with the alternation of three and five beats makes for an unexpected and elevating experience for the mind’s ear… it is so songlike… very beautiful!!! I would love to see more poems in this form!!! And I can very much relate to the last line of “Happy the Flower”: I try to get fresh-cut flowers weekly or more often during the summer– and winter also if anything decent is available– I definitely have had my full share of watching the passing from “height” “to end” of all my vases– I have 2-3 going at any one time!!! Anyway especially fine work as always Adam!!!
Adam, there is so much to commend these two poems from the refreshing rhyme schemes to the depth of sensitivity of the imagery they communicated to my mind. The longing for the sounds of chaos, as you put it, that become harmonic in our memories and the longing to hear them again as the silent nights of the metaphoric winter approach is beautifully and skillfully written. I like the idea of the “Happy Flower” being cut in its prime and held up for admiration at its peak rather left withering and languishing.
These are two beautiful and professionally crafted poems. “Serenade,” with its heterometric structure, subtly guides the reader to take in the poem slowly, so as to appreciate the rich diction. And the delayed rhymes of lines 4 and 8 in each stanza holds the reader back, so as to make the poem’s closing two lines (with their deep pessimism and memento mori finality), seem humanly troubling rather than a mere comment on the weather.
The sonnet of the three flowers is almost conceit-like in its style. And like every conceit, it presents a quasi-logical procession. The fates of the autumn flower and the spring flower are shown to be just an aspect of the endless pattern of nature, while the summer-cut flower, placed in a crystal vase, serves the much higher purpose of human perception and appreciation. It too dies (in a crystal tomb), but it is unravished, resplendent, and in fullest bloom. This puts it beyond nature, and more important.
This makes the sonnet very like those still-life paintings of cut flowers and gathered fruits and various man-made objects. It shows the triumph of human thought and perception over the mere fact of natural growth.