A Maple's Tale: A Sappy, Sugary, Syrupy Diamante Poem

The word diamante can be translated as “diamond” in English. It is the way of saying diamond in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. But it traces its origins back to the ancient Greek word for “unbreakable”: αδάμας, adámas.

The word also can be used to designate a poem which looks diamond-like in shape when it is written out. This use of the word is fairly recent. It in fact owes this special meaning to the innovative thinking of Iris M. Tiedt, who published “A New Poetry Form: The Diamante” in 1969.

The diamante poem must follow a specific structure. For example, it needs to be expressed in no more than seven lines. Each line offers a precise number of words and kind of wording. The poem requires no punctuation or rhyme scheme. The diamante therefore stipulates the following of its creators in regard to each line:

In terms of language, the diamante can be used to illustrate shades of meaning which combine and contribute to the overriding message of the poem. In terms of theme, it can illustrate a concept or manifestation and its opposite. For example, a diamante can transition from the opening description of despair into a closing description of hope.

The diamante specifically devotes the first two and last two lines to the naming and prominent characteristics of someone or something. The three lines in between may give information which applies to both objects or organisms. But technically, they need to be split in the connectedness of their description. The entire fourth line and the first half of the fifth line ought to pertain to the opening object or organism. The second half of the fifth line and the entire sixth line should relate to the closing object or organism.

The sugar maple (Acer saccharum) functions as the central idea and image in the hub presented above. It is native to Canada and the United States of America. It may be found growing naturally in the following southeastern Canadian provinces:

• New Brunswick;

• Nova Scotia;

• Ontario;

• Québec.

It also will grow naturally in the northern United States eastward from the Mississippi River banks. It therefore will have native status in the following regions:

• Middle Atlantic (Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania);

• Middle West (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin);

• New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont).

It will hold similarly native status in the South Atlantic states of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Within its native ranges, the sugar maple adds beauty to the landscape. For example, it can give vertical interest. It is a somewhat slow grower. It in fact may average just about a foot (30.48 centimeters) of growth per year. It nevertheless may grow to a mature height which ranges from 85 to 115 feet (25 to 35 meters). The lower range in height will be more likely in urban settings while the upper will be more attainable in wilder, less cultivated landscapes.

The sugar maple also can contribute heavily to the visual interest of a space. It does so predominantly through the color of its leaves. Its spring and summer colors tend to be a rich green. But its fall colors turn leaves orange, red and yellow and winged seeds bronze.

Additional visual interest can be generated by the tree’s flowers. Sugar maple flowers fall within the category of springtime corymbs. They serve to add textural and visual interest. Without petals, they take the shape of many small yellow-green branches.

But the overriding appeal of sugar maples is the taste and whiff of the sugary sweet syrup made from the tree’s annual run of sticky sap.

My special thanks to:

• Talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the Internet;

• Virginia State University and Polytechnic Institute for the high caliber of its Carol M. Newman Library collection of books on environmental issues and resources and of poetry and the analysis and criticism of poetry as well as of its online resources regarding the environment and trees.

“Sugar Maple Acer saccharum Marsh.” Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=2 (Last accessed December 12, 2011)

Tiedt, Iris M. and Dr. Sidney W. Tiedt (Eds.). Unrequired Reading: An Annotated Bibliiography for Teachers and School Administrators. Second Edition. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 1963, 1967. http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/7438/Unrequired_Reading.pdf?sequence=1 (Last accessed December 12, 2011)

Copyright Monday, December 12, 2011 by Derdriu