What is an ode?
v An ode is a type of poetry that is used to praise or celebrate a person, place, thing, or idea. An ode can consist of three major parts, the strophe, the antistrophe, and last but not least the epode. Among these major parts of ode poems, there are three types of ode poems. These different types of poems are called Pindaric odes, Horatian odes, and Irregular odes.
v A Formal lyric poem that is serious in subject and treatment, elevated in style and elaborate in stanzaic structure.
v It praises an individual, an idea, or an event and sometimes used to commemorate an important public occasion.
v Unlike other forms of poetry, the ode does not have a strict line or stanza requirement.
Origin of Ode
v The word “ode” comes from the Greek word aeidein, which means to sing or to chant.
v The prototype was established by the Greek poet Pindar whose odes were modeled on the songs by the chorus in Greek Drama.
Characteristics of Ode
v It is exalted in subject matter and elevated in tone and style. The poet is serious both in the choice of his subject and in the manner of its presentation.
® For example- The difference between the style of Wordsworth’s poems on simple country scenes and incidents and that of his sublime” Ode on the intimations of Immortality”.
v It may be full of deep and sincere emotion, but its expression is expected to be much more consciously elaborate, impressive, and diffuse.
v Unlike other forms of the verse it is often addressed directly to the being or object it treats. The opening lines sometimes contain an apostrophe or appeal, which is characteristic of the whole treatment of the poem.
® Examples. Shelley's “ Ode to the West Wind” begins “ O wild west wind”
® Keats’ “ Ode on Grecian Urn” –” Thou still Unravish'd bride of quietness”
® Tennyson’s “To Virgil”, “ Roman Virgil, thou that singest”
v Sometimes the ode has for its theme an important public event like a national jubilee, the death of a distinguished personage, the commemoration of the founding of a great university.
® Examples. Marvell’s “ Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland”
® Tennyson’s “ Ode on the Death of the
T Types of Ode
There are three main types of odes: Pindaric, Horatian, and irregular.
Pindaric Ode
Ø Known as Pindaric due to its brilliant use by the Greek classical Poet Pindar (552 B.C- 442 B.C).
Ø It is known as Dorian due to the dialect of the district in which it arose.
Ø It is called regular because it follows a regular structure of strophe, antistrophe and epode.
Ø The Pindaric ode was choric and sung to the accompaniment of a dance.
Ø Made up of three parts: a formal opening, a middle section that mirrors the opening in form and length, and a final closing section that is a different length and a different meter than the first two parts
Ø Pindaric ode was introduced in England by Ben Johnson’s Ode “To the Immortal Memory and friendship of that noble Pair, Sir Lucius Cary and Sir H. Morison” (1629).
Structure of Pindaric Ode
Ø Strophe =è>Stanza I =è> It introduces the poem or topic
Ø Antistrophe è>> Stanza II è>> structured in same as strophe, but mirrors strophe.
Ø Epode è>> Stanza IIIè>> Has a different meter and length and serves as a conclusion to the idea discussed in strophe and Antistrophe.
Ø The sequence of Strophe, an Antistrophe and an Epode could be repeated any number of times in an ode of this type.
For example1
It is repeated thrice in Gray’s Odes, “The Progress of Poesy” and “The Bard”, which are amoung the most successful imitation of this form in the English language.
Pindar’s odes were encomiastic: that is, they were written to praise and glorify someone- in the instance of Pindar, the ode celebrated a victorious athlete in the Olympic Games.
Horatian Ode
v Originally modelled on the matter, tone, and form of the odes of the Roman Horace (65 B.C-8 B.C).
v Short lyric poem written in stanzas of two or four lines in the manner of the 1st-century-BC Latin poet Horace.
v They are often addressed to a friend and deal with friendship, love, and the practice of poetry.
v In contrast to the passion, visionary boldness, and formal language of Pindar’s odes, many Horatian odes are calm, meditative, and colloquial or informal.
v This form was popularized by two great Roman writers Horace and Catullus.
v It is also known as Lesbian Ode named after the island of Lesbos where it originally flourished.
Ø Structure
v It consists of several short stanzas, similar in length and arrangement but devoid of strict rules.
v These stanzas are usually homostrophic i.e. written in a single repeated stanza form.
v The treatment is direct and dignified, and the thought is clearly developed.
v The works of Horace in particular served as a model to English imitators of the form, and English odes of this type are commonly known as Horatian odes.
The Irregular Ode
v The irregular ode also called the Cowleyan Ode was introduced in 1656 by Abraham Cowley.
v Irregular odes use rhyme, but not the three-part form of the Pindaric ode, nor the two- or four-line stanza of the Horatian ode.
v He imitated the Pindaric style and matter but disregarded the recurrent stanzaic pattern in each strophic triad instead, he allowed each stanza to establish its own pattern of varying line, length, number of lines, and rhyme scheme.
v This type of irregular stanzaic structure, which is free to alter in accordance with shifts in subject and mood, has been the most common for the English Ode ever since; Wordsworth’s “ Ode: Intimations of Immorality (1807) is representative.
