Ode
Definition of Ode
An ode is a form of poetry such as sonnet or elegy. Ode is a literary technique that is lyrical in nature, but not very
lengthy. You have often read odes in which poets praise people, natural scenes,
and abstract ideas. Ode is derived from a Greek word aeidein, which
means to chant or sing. It is highly solemn and serious in its tone and subject
matter, and usually is used with elaborate patterns of stanzas. However, the
tone is often formal. A salient feature of ode is its uniform metrical feet,
but poets generally do not strictly follow this rule though use highly
elevated theme.
Odes are of three types, including (1) Pindar ode,
(2) Horatian ode, and (3) irregular ode.
Pindar Ode
This ode was named after an ancient Greek poet,
Pindar, who began writing choral poems that were meant to be sung at public
events. It contains three triads; strophe, antistrophe, and
final stanza as
epode, with irregular rhyme patterns
and lengths of lines.
Horatian Ode
The name of this ode was taken from the Latin poet,
Horace. Unlike heroic odes of Pindar, Horatian ode is informal, meditative and
intimate. These odes dwelled upon interesting subject matters that were simple
and were pleasing to the senses. Since Horatian odes are informal in tone, they
are devoid of any strict rules.
Irregular Ode
This type of ode is without any formal rhyme scheme, and
structure such as the Pindaric ode. Hence, the poet has great freedom and
flexibility to try any types of concepts and moods. William Wordsworth and John
Keats were such poets who extensively wrote irregular odes, taking advantage of
this form
xamples of Odes in Literature
Example #1: Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood (By William Wordsworth)
“There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore; —”
This is a perfect example of an English Pindaric ode. Just observe the use of different types of meters in each stanza, which have made it easier to read, and made flexible with simple rhyme scheme of ababac.
Example #2: Ode to the Confederate Dead (By Allen Tate)
“Row after row with strict impunity
The headstones yield their names to the element,
The wind whirrs without recollection;
In the riven troughs the splayed leaves
Pile up, of nature the casual sacramen
To the seasonal eternity of death …”
This is an example of Horatian ode, which presents a consistent rhyme scheme. It has no division into triads like Pindar ode, but is less ceremonious, less formal, more tranquil, and better suited for reading. The purpose of using this type of ode is to give vent to pent-up feelings.
Example #4: The Progress of Poesy: A Pindaric Ode (By Thomas Gray)
“A thousand rills their mazy progress take:
Now the rich stream of music winds along
Deep, majestic, smooth, and strong …
Now rolling down the steep amain,
Headlong, impetuous, see it pour:
The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar.”
In the above mentioned ode, the speaker is addressing to poetry that is coming out among from different places to find its echoes in the nature. This is a good example of a true ode.
Example #5: Ode on a Grecian Urn (By John Keats)
“Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme …
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter …
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone.”
This ode has a regular and tight structure. Except the final stanza, the first four lines in each stanza follow rhyme scheme of ABAB and the next lines follow CDE or CED. This is one of the most celebrated odes in English literature.
