Ode :
Ode Definition:
A formal, often ceremonious poem that addresses and celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea
Its stanza forms vary
There are two different types of Odes: Horatian and Pindaric
Modern odes generally deal with intense emotion from personal crisis
Pindaric Ode :
Pindaric Ode Also called a Greek Ode
Named after Greek poet Pindar
A public poem set to music that celebrated
athletic victories
Horatian Ode :
Horatian Ode Named after the Latin poet Horace
written in quatrains
more philosophical and contemplative
Example Ode :
Example Ode EXCERPT from Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats
(From www.poetryfoundation.org)
Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.