Ode essay

                                   Ode 

Ode is of Greek origin. It is a serious and calm composition. Ode is longer than a lyric. it is in the form of an address. It is also used to commemorate an important public ocassion.

The subject matter for a ode is highly exalted and elevated in tone. The poet is serious about the choice of his subject. For example Ode on the intimation of Immortality written by William Wordsworth.

 Odes expression is expected to be deep, elaborate and impressive. Ode is addressed directly to the object. Eg: Shelley's addresses west wind as " O Wild west wind" in his "Ode to the West Wind". Keats addresses the Grecian Urn as " Thou still unravished bride of quietness".

Ode commemerates the death of a distinguished person as in Tennyson's "Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington".

Types of Ode

The Dorian or Pindaric Ode

The Greek Ode Dorian is named after the district and dialect. The term Pindaric Ode is named after the Greek poet, Pindar.This Ode was choric and it was sung to the accompaniment of a dance. It consisted of three parts. 

Strophe- Dancers moved from Right to Left.

Antistrophe- Dancers moved from Left to Right.

Epode- Stood Still.

This sequence can be repeated any number of time. Eg: Gray's Ode "The Progress of Poesy" and "The Bard" (Repeated thrice).

Lesbian Ode or Horation Ode

It is named after the island Lesbos. It was simpler in form than the Pindaric. It consists of short stanzas, similar in length and arrangement. It was popularised in Latin by two great Roman writers, Horace and Catullus.

Horace served as a model for English imitators, and English Odes of this type is known as Horation Ode.

Irregular Ode

Irregular odes follow neither the Pindaric form nor the Horatian form. This type of ode is characterized by irregularity of verse and stanzaic structure as in Wordsworth's Immortality Ode and Odes of Tennyson and Robert Bridges.