Ode to the Scottish Highlands
A poem on the beauty of coastal Northwestern Scotland
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An ode is a poem that honors a specific object, person, place, or thing, usually through descriptive language. A famous example is Keats’ “Ode to a Grecian Urn.” Its form is any number of 10-line stanzas, each line composed of 10 syllables of iambic pentameter, with a rhyme scheme of abab cde cde. The final “cde” is sometimes rearranged into a different order to create slightly different rhyming effects, which I have done here in this single-stanza ode.
My inspiration for this poem was the print of a small painting by digital collage artist Cath Waters, which I brought back with me from Scotland this past Spring. Scroll down for a photo of the artwork!
Ode to the Scottish Highlands
After “Skye from the Beallach Na Ba, Applecross” by Cath Waters
Sober clouds adrift in tarnished beige
dissolve without concern to mark the hour.
Sinking deep within a mountain range,
icy lakes lie still in quiet power.
In slopes of tinted ink and faded stain,
this land of water, wind and weathered stone
recalls a life that rose from ancient time.
The cold and yellow twilight stands alone,
a phantom welcoming in mist and line
those few who pause to praise the press of rain.
I like it, Sharna, especially the line “this land of water, wind, and weathered stone”, and the twist of change of perspective in the final line with its hidden sympathy.