The Glory of Glad – INDEX

1) Why keep an Ode Journal?

2) The Ode : an Evolving Form (and my first English Ode)

3) Various perspectives on Gratitude through the Ages

4) How Keats first smoothed the mood of the English Ode; how I first followed my muse in pursuit of his lead (after a hiatus of exactly 200 years)

5) Making a List, Selecting a Topic and Starting to Write an Ode (e.g. my Ode to Books)

6) Expanded Options for your Gratitude Odes (plus my ekphrasis of an ekphrasis of an ekphrasis and my Silver Birch sonnet)

7) Ode Journal as Material Object and Labour of Love : Cards that Care, Craft as Cure and Codex as Conjuration

8) Poetry and the Power of Placebo : Invocation, Incantation and Inspiration

9) Grounding your Genius by Taming your Titan (including an extended digression on the mid-60s creative flowering)

10) A Marriage Made in Heaven : the Remarkable Synthesis of Fasting-Induced Euphoria and Grati-Ode Journaling in a Harmonised Weekly Cycle (including my Ode on Returning Home)

11) Lightening the Load of your Odes : Embracing the Gifts of Thalia

12) A Delicate Dose of Delusion : Completing the Circle by Receiving Reciprocation

The Odes & Sonnets

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Barnes’ Owl in the Snow

by dawnraver, posted in Uncategorized, Gratitude, Poetry, Writing, ecology, environment, climate change

(rhymes written after reading Simon Barnes’ blog post Barn owl in the snow) Across the marsh, white passing over white the silent hunter flies then loses height  descending to a favoured perch to stand and view with icy gaze an icy land Stray snowflakes catch my fancy, frivolous but never his; his hunt is serious.  Across the marsh, white passing over white Outside the stables, freezing at the sight I let my busy, muck-filled spade fall still  A thought occurs that gives a further thrill: this, and the … Continue reading Barnes’ Owl in the Snow

The Silver Birch – video

by dawnraver, posted in birch, Gratitude, inspiration, Joy, Ode, Poetry, Sonnet, Writing

The Silver Birch– a caudate sonnet My gladness of the silver birch I wish   To share, that slender goddess of a treeHer shower of silken hair moves in a swish   That stirs in me a mystic reverieAs turns this verdant, grassy leaf-fringed glade   Into her sacred grove, and I, her priestMid-frisson in the dancing, dappled … Continue reading The Silver Birch – video

On Odes to Coastal Dawns – spoken word video

by dawnraver, posted in classical tradition, Feel-good, Gratitude, inspiration, Joy, Ode, Poetry, relaxation, Wellness, Writing

What poet now would ever dareTo sing an ode to morning airThe rosy mist that hovers thereO’er sea-girt folds? What mind could ever fully graspThe magnitude of such a task:To frame in verses built to lastVapours of gold? Perhaps some master’s careful brushCould set in oil the heart’s full rush Paint here and there a … Continue reading On Odes to Coastal Dawns – spoken word video

Ode to a Car Key – spoken word video

by dawnraver, posted in cars, driving, Gratitude, mythology, Ode, Poetry, Writing

Ode to a Car Key O fine, faff-free and labour-saving keyThat lets me lock and unlock, with one press,The car remotely and most easilyFor you my heart now fills with thankfulnessLet’s say it’s raining and one standsWith luggage in both handsIt’s been a busy day and one is tiredHow glad one feels to then recallA … Continue reading Ode to a Car Key – spoken word video

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