Home   Pleached Poems Braided Verse

PLEACHED QUADRILLE

A quadrille is a dance for four couples, composed of five or more figures. This is four poems pleached or braided together. To unpleach, read every first line to get the first poem, every second to get the second, and so on. For those whose eyes cross at the mere idea, I'll paste the separate pieces below.

Poem 1. "Night of My Moon".

Night of my noon of my morning
Eve of my midnight and darkday
Lightning to smile through the thunder
In the spark of the autumnal leafway

Morn of my night of my noontide
Day of my midnight and sweet eve
Smile in the thunderous lightning
Spark of my autumn to me cleave .


Noon of my morn of my darklight
Midday of eve and of nighttime
Lightning through thunder be smiling
Way of the sparked autumn sunclimb.


Poem 2. "Snow Ship"

See a generous storm of the moon
And rainbows arch under the stars
Hear a song in the sweetness of snow
Or the creaking of ships and their spars

See the moon in a generous storm
As stars in the rainbow may shine
Sweetness of snow must you sing
By the spar of the ship you'll be mine

See the generous moon in its storm
As rain in the starbows caught fast
Hear a snowsong a'singing complete
In the ship with her spars and her mast



Poem 3. "Kissing the Sky".

Where the river flows soft in the valley
Where the mountains are kissing the bright sky
Oh there grows the tree of the Summer
Oh under this stone's where I do lie

Where the valley is soft with the river
Where the sky's kissed by mountains a'dream
The tree of the summer is greening
As I sleep 'neath my stone by the stream

Where the river flows valleywards softly
With the mountain to sky kisses pressing
The summer tree grows as a monarch
My sentinel stone sings my blessing.



Poem 4. "Venus to Mars".

Come to me, love to me, soon
Be thou as Venus to Mars
Would'st thou love? To the past must thou go!
Thy heart shalt not know whence we are

Come to me, love, in thy form
As Venus my Mars shalt be thine
Love me not? Then of nothing I'm king.
Unknowing, thy heartlight may shine.

Soon to me, love come, reborn
As Mars to thy Venus I'm cast
In no time of the past shalt we meet.
Thy heart find completeness at last.
 

COLOUR CODED!

Night of my noon of my morning,

See a generous storm of the moon-

Where the river flows soft in the valley,

Come to me, love, to me, soon!

Eve of my midnight and dark day,

And rainbows arch under the stars-

Where the mountains are kissing the bright sky

Be thou as Venus to Mars.

Lightning to smile through the thunder!

Hear a song in the sweetness of snow;

Oh there grows the tree of the Summer

Would’st thou love? To the past must thou go!

In the spark of the autumnal leafway,

Or the creaking of ships and their spars,

Oh under this stone’s where I do lie;

Thy heart shalt not know whence we are.

Morn of my night of my noontide,

See the moon in a generous storm-

Where the valley is soft with the river

Come to me, love, in thy form.

Day of my midnight and sweet eve,

As stars in the rainbow may shine;

Where the sky’s kissed by mountains a’dream

As Venus my Mars shalt be thine.

Smile in the thunderous lightning;

Sweetness of snow must you sing,

The tree of the summer is greening-

Love me not? Then of nothing I’m king.

Spark of my autumn to me cleave-

By the spar of the ship you’ll be mine,

As I sleep ‘neath my stone by the stream,

Unknowing, thy heartlight may shine.

Noon of my morn of my darklight;

See the generous moon in its storm-

Where the river flows valleywards softly

Soon to me, love, come reborn!

Midday of eve and of nighttime,

As rain in the starbows caught fast-

With the mountain to sky kisses pressing

As Mars to thy Venus I’m cast.

Lightning through thunder be smiling,

Hear a snowsong a’singing complete-

The Summer tree grows as a monarch;

In no time of the past shalt we meet.

Way of the sparked autumn sunclimb!

In the ship with her spars and her mast;

My sentinel stone sings my blessing-

Thy heart finds completion at last.

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