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Now Spring has penetrated the Northern Hemisphere we are moving from dark to longer lighter days. Or from Nocturne to Aubade

“In French it means “dawn serenade,” and that is the meaning that English-speakers originally fell in love with. As the relationship of “aubade” with the English language grew, its meanings became a little more intimate. It blossomed into a word for a song or poem of lovers parting at dawn. Later it came to refer to songs sung in the morning hours. The affair between “aubade” and the dawn began with the Old Occitan word auba, meaning “dawn”.  ~ Merriam -Webster

The Aubade has been crafted into English language poetry since the 1600s. Here is Donne’s “Break of Day” which summons the lovers to part:-

“‘Tis true, ‘tis day, what though it be?
O wilt thou therefore rise from me?
Why should we rise because ‘tis light?
Did we lie down because ‘twas night?
Love, which in spite of darkness brought us hither,
Should in despite of light keep us together…

By contrast De La Paz confines his poem to morning and early birds in “Aubade with bread for the Sparrows”

“The snow voids the distance of the road
and the first breath comes from the early morning
ghosts. The sparrows with their hard eyes
glisten in the difficult light. They preen
their feathers and chirp. It’s as though they were one
voice talking to God.

                                    Mornings are a sustained hymn
without the precision of faith…”

Whilst Torrin Greathouse’s lovers are casually intimate in “Aubade beginning in handcuffs”

“Sometimes I pronounce aubade: obeyed
for the way this particular desire stumbles
the tongue. Hunger’s vocabulary is a fickle

thing. How many lovers have said that
they adore me, but meant instead they saw
in me a door? A thing to be entered. Language

shifts an image like the light. To lash can mean
both beat & bind. I’m lashed against the bed
by dawn’s red blaze…”

So for this MTB: Critique and Craft prompt, there are two writing choices:

  1. a poem evoking daybreak/greeting the dawn
  2. a poem about lovers parting at dawn
  • Please include ‘Morning’ or ‘Aubade’ somewhere in the title of your chosen poem
  • Either poem can be written in any rhyme scheme but since ‘aubade’ also refers to a piece of music to the morning then focus on making the words sound melodious.
  • For those who prefer more of a challenge, write in hymnal, ballad or a song format of your choosing

Once you have published your poem, add it to the Mr Linky below so that others can read it. Then go visiting others as that is half the enjoyment of our dVerse gatherings.