Ode to the Serene Lake

Lesson 8 Assignment- Ode reworked into Rondel form.

Ode to the Serene Lake


The keeper of my captive mind remains
Enchanted mere concealed behind a screen
Of leafy ashen birch and evergreen
And scented floor of russet needle grains.

This glassy lake reflects like window panes
With diamond flecks of sun and shoreline’s scene.
The keeper of my captive mind remains
Enchanted mere concealed behind a screen.

Away, the loon’s far laughing echo wanes.
The wood afloat am I, alight with sheen;
Though worn, I’m here adrift and velveteen.
As tranquil lapping of the swells sustains,
The keeper of my captive mind remains.

Rondel - A French form consisting of 13 lines: two quatrains and a quintet, rhyming as follows:
ABba abAB abbaA. The capital letters are the refrains, or repeats. The above rondel was written in iambic pentameter.

This poem was written for an assignment of Tuesday Morning Cantos, in which an original ode was to be re-worked into a form poem, as well as incorporate some of the poetic devices covered in class. My original ode is found here:

Ode to Lake of the Woods  (E) Ode for the Tuesday Morning Cantos class- lesson One #1558599 by Noelle