Ode

This article is about the form of lyrical verse. For other Around 1800, William Wordsworth revived Cowleys
uses, see Ode (disambiguation).
Pindarick for one of his nest poems, the Intimations of
Immortality ode. Others also wrote odes: Samuel TayOde (from Ancient Greek: id) is a type of lyrical lor Coleridge, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley who
wrote odes with regular stanza patterns. Shelleys Ode to
stanza. A classic ode is structured in three major parts:
the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Dierent the West Wind, written in fourteen line terza rima stanzas,
forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode is a major poem in the form. Perhaps the greatest odes
also exist. It is an elaborately structured poem praising or of the 19th century, however, were Keatss Five Great
glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intel- Odes of 1819, which included Ode to a Nightingale, Ode
on Melancholy, Ode on a Grecian Urn, Ode to Psyche,
lectually as well as emotionally.
and To Autumn. After Keats, there have been comparaGreek odes were originally poetic pieces performed with tively few major odes in English. One major exception is
musical accompaniment. As time passed on, they grad- the fourth verse of the poem For the Fallen by Laurence
ually became known as personal lyrical compositions Binyon, which is often known as The Ode to the Fallen,
whether sung (with or without musical instruments) or or simply as The Ode.
merely recited (always with accompaniment). The primary instruments used were the aulos and the lyre (the W.H. Auden also wrote Ode, one of the most popular polatter was the most revered instrument to the Ancient ems from his earlier career when he lived in London, in
opposition to peoples ignorance over the reality of war.
Greeks).
In an interview, Auden once stated that he had intended to
There are three typical forms of odes: the Pindaric, title the poem My Silver Age in mockery of the supposedly
Horatian, and irregular. Pindaric odes follow the form imperial Golden age, however chose Ode as it seemed to
and style of Pindar. Horatian odes follow conventions provide a more sensitive exploration of warfare.
of Horace; the odes of Horace deliberately imitated the
Greek lyricists such as Alcaeus and Anacreon. Irregular Ode on a Grecian Urn, while an ekphrasis, also funcodes use rhyme, but not the three-part form of the Pin- tions as an ode to the artistic beauty the narrator obdaric ode, nor the two- or four-line stanza of the Horatian serves. The English odes most common rhyme scheme
is ABABCDECDE.
ode.

2 Notable practitioners of the ode

English ode

Thomas Gray
An English ode is a lyrical stanza in praise of, or dedicated to someone or something that captures the poets
interest or serves as an inspiration for the ode. The lyrics
can be on various themes. The earliest odes in the English language, using the word in its strict form, were the
Epithalamium and Prothalamium of Edmund Spenser.

John Keats
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
William Wordsworth
Percy Bysshe Shelley

In the 17th century, the most important original odes in

English are by Abraham Cowley. These were iambic,
but had irregular line length patterns and rhyme schemes.
Cowley based the principle of his Pindariques on an
apparent misunderstanding of Pindars metrical practice
but, nonetheless, others widely imitated his style, with notable success by John Dryden.

Pablo Neruda
lvaro de Campos
Dorothy Regan Drake
William Shakespeare

With Pindars metre being better understood in the 18th

century, the fashion for Pindaric odes faded, though there
are notable actual Pindaric odes by Thomas Gray, The
Progress of Poesy and The Bard.

Thomas Nashe
John Donne
1

Notes

References
This article incorporates text from a publication
now in the public domain: Gosse, Edmund (1911).
Ode. In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopdia Britannica 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links
'Ode' - JPiC Forum For Writers Glossary Term of
the Day
"Ode". Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.

EXTERNAL LINKS

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Ode Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode?oldid=654227325 Contributors: Camembert, Ixfd64, GTBacchus, Ahoerstemeier, Mnrsiat,

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