It’s Quadrille Monday! Michelle Beauchamp here, aka Mish welcoming you to our virtual poetry pub. It is that time again to fit your wonderful, wandering muse into exactly 44 words, not including the title. Of course, as usual your quadrille must also contain a given word.

So then, what is the given word? Let me give you a hint.

So there you have it. The word is “hint“.

Here is an interesting excerpt from a poem by Scottish American poet, Hew Ainslie (1792-1878).

The Hint o’ Hairst

It’s dowie in the hint o’ hairst,
At the wa-gang o’ the swallow,
When the wind grows cauld, and the burns grow bauld,
And the wuds are hingin’ yellow ;
But oh, it’s dowier far to see
The wa-gang o’ her the hert gangs wi’,
The deid-set o’ a shinin’ e’e –
That darkens the weary world on thee.

It took me down a rabbit hole of googling Gaelic to find that Ainslie’s first line translates roughly to being dismal or dreary in the “hint of harvest”. The poem more than hints at the loss of love, aligning well with the melancholy season described. You can read the rest of the poem here.

Mary Oliver (1935 – 2019) shares many hints of her connection with trees in this beautiful piece.

When I am Among the Trees

Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It's simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

Source: madisonpubliclibrary.org

So my fellow quadrillers, find a way to incorporate the word hint into your poem. Give us a hint. Are you hinting at something deeper? Maybe there will be hints of smells, flavours, emotions, a hint of information or change? Whether used as a noun or a verb, “hint” can slip quietly (or boldly) into your quadrille. You could even give us a hint of quirkiness by hyphenating the word. The theme and style of your poem is open.

For those who are new to the Q, here’s how to join in:

• Write a quadrille and post it on your blog or website.
• Enter your name and direct link to your poem in Mr. Linky.
• Follow the links to other poets. Read, comment and come back for more as the prompt is open all week.
• Kindly provide a link to dVerse so others can find us too.
• Drop into the pub to say hello.
• Enjoy!