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![]() Poetry This week: Ode: A Brief History and How-To Edited by: Red Writing Hood More Newsletters By This Editor 1. About this Newsletter 2. A Word from our Sponsor 3. Letter from the Editor 4. Editor's Picks 5. A Word from Writing.Com 6. Ask & Answer 7. Removal instructions "Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance." Carl Sandburg "Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds." Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) Ode: A Brief History and How-To When I think of an ode it's as a celebration of something or someone. Indeed, references of things as an "ode to" almost always use it in this way or something similar. BRIEF HISTORY The ode was born of Greek drama, but the poet Pindar began using it as a poetic form, so he is usually credited as its inventor. This poem started out set to music and even had back up dancers. I discovered several variations, but I will cover the construction of only five of them today. MUST HAVES-Pindaric Ode (aka Choral Ode) --Each line is ten syllables long. --Three stanzas (or groups of three stanzas). --The first two stanzas have the same rhyme scheme (any rhyme scheme, just be consistent), and the final stanza MUST be a completely different rhyme scheme. (Turco 217) COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET'S CHOICE IN ALL THIS? --Topic is up to you; however remember this poem traditionally celebrates something. Pindar usually used it for telling of the victories in the Olympic Games. MUST HAVES-Horatian Ode --Stanzas are either two or four lines each. --Any rhyme scheme, just follow it throughout the poem. --Any meter, just follow it throughout the poem. COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET'S CHOICE IN ALL THIS? -- Topic is up to you; however Horace celebrated more intimate items when writing odes. "His odes were calmer, more philosophical, more personal, sometimes briefer." (Padgett 118). MUST HAVES-English Ode (aka Keatsian Ode) --Three stanzas (or groups of three stanzas). --The meter used is iambic pentameter. --Stanzas are ten lines each. --Each stanza should be a different rhyme scheme. (Williams 124) COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET'S CHOICE IN ALL THIS? -- Topic is totally up to you. MUST HAVES-Ronsardian Ode (Invented by Pierre de Ronsard) --Stanzas are nine lines long (and you can have one or more stanzas). --Rhyme scheme is: ABABCCDDC. --Syllabic scheme is: 10, 4, 10, 4, 10, 10, 4, 4, 8 (the numbers refer to how many syllables in that line) (Turco 219) COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET'S CHOICE IN ALL THIS? -- Topic is totally up to you. MUST HAVES-Irregular Ode --Any rhyme, just follow it throughout the poem. COULD HAVES or WHAT IS THE POET'S CHOICE IN ALL THIS? --Any meter (or no set meter). --Length can be long or short. --Any topic. (Padgett 119) OF NOTE: Some ode variations employ items called the strophe, antistrophe and epode. This is similar to the emotional tension in a play rising and falling and coming to a close. This is a simplified explanation, and once you get the formats down, you may want to explore this part of the ode. There are other ode variations out there, but most are more about the theme or topic then they are about the format and construction. Some of these topical odes are: Epithalamion [aka Epithalamium-newly married/marriage], Genethliacum [birthdays], and Triumphal [victories] (Turco 220). SOURCE NOTES: Padgett, Ron. The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms. 2nd. NY: T & W Books, 2000. Turco, Lewis. The Book of Forms. 3rd. Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 2000. Williams, Miller (1986). Patterns of Poetry: An Encyclopedia of Forms. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. ![]() Theme:
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