What are the characteristics of an ode?

An ode is a poem in praise of something or someone. An ode can be serious or humorous, but in all instances it is thoughtful, in that the poet is exploring important aspects of the thing being praised or making keen observations about the person. Often, odes to things employ personification, and Pablo Neruda is a master of odes and he uses personification extensively. "Ode to the Storm" by Neruda is worth examining, as is "Ode to Clothes."

Usually the ancient odes took the most exalted language in a lyrical verse form dealing with some deed or event and carrying one theme from beginning to end. Accompanied by music--sometimes by entire choirs or the Greek "chorus," the musical production helped to tell the story through its movement. Later "odes" were much lighter and flexible in verse patterns and expressed life in much less solemn terms. They were also not considered "productions" or entertainments as much as something to be simply read aloud.

There are many different kinds of odes...Keats'  "Ode to a Grecian Urn" differs greatly from Pablo Neruda's "Ode to My Socks," however, they all have the same basic principles:

The Ode is usually a lyric poem of moderate length. It has a serious subject. It has an elevated style (word choice, etc.). It usually has an elaborate stanza pattern.

The ode often praises people, the arts of music and poetry, natural scenes, or abstract concepts.  In the case of Neruda's ode about socks, he is praising his socks...not elevated, but a bit satirical...a sort of ode parody.

These basic principles began with Pindar in Greece and several Roman poets as well.  The English Romantics (Keats, Coleridge, etc.) took Pindar's model and tweaked it for their own needs.

Good Luck!

What is the origin and characteristics of an ode?

Hi richi,

An ode is a lyric poem, usually written in a formal, heightened style, and usually with a dignified theme. Its purpose is to praise and glorify. Odes tend to be reasonably difficult, intellectual poems (rather than emotional, personal poems) and are often extremely long, consisting of a succession of stanzas in lines of varying length and meter.

The term comes from the Greek oide or aoide, which was derived from aeidein, meaning “to sing.”

Originally, an ode was a poem meant to be sung. The earliest ode-like poems were written by Sappho c. 600 B.C. and Alcaeus c. 611 – 580 B.C., while the modern ode dates from the Renaissance.

Famous odes in English include Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn," "Ode to a Nightingale," and "Ode to Autumn," Wordsworth's "Intimations of Immortality," and Allen Tate's "Ode to the Confederate Dead."

What is an ode?

An ode is one of poetry's formal types, or forms, and is a kind of a broader form of poetry called lyric poem. A lyric poem is often rhymed, but need not be, and expresses the feelings and emotions of the poet. It is the emotive characteristic of lyric poems that make them so appealing. Odes have their own formal requirements, or requirements of form. The Pindaric and Horatian odes have three parts, the strophe, antistrophe, and epode, while the Irregular ode may have some or all of the traditional elements while being longer.

In the opening stanza of the ode, the strophe, there is a complex scheme of rhythmic meter and rhyme. The second stanza, the antistrophe, mirrors the scheme of the first, and the third, the epode, has a different metrical scheme structure altogether. An ode speaks in a lofty manner to an event, object, or person that is absent, thus not present with the poetic speaker. This can be illustrated by Wordsworth's long-titled ode to an event, "Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood." It may also be illustrated by Keats's ode to an object, "Ode on a Grecian Urn." It is further illustrated by Robert Lowell's long Irregular ode to sailors, "The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket."

An ode is a kind of lyric poem which is typically written in dignified language and expresses a sincere appreciation for someone or something. Practically any noun you can think of could be the subject of odes, which have been written about everything from grecian urns to birds to people.

An ode is a lyric poem designated to praise a subject. The phrasing and content tends to be formal and serious. Odes were originally sung, most notably in Ancient Greece, but have since become familiar forms in subsequent historical periods such as the Romantic era. One example from Ancient Greece is "Ode to Aphrodite" by Sappho. In this ode, the speaker addresses her subject (Aphrodite) directly but in deference; like a prayer.

In Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind," the speaker addresses the West Wind and describes an analogy between the regenerative power of the wind (and nature) and the impact of Shelley's own poetry.

In both examples, the form of the ode is divided into stanzas, a relatively formal and succinct rhythm and meter. However, odes are not limited to such formal limits. In "Ode to My Socks," by Pablo Neruda, the form is free verse and the subject is a pair of socks; a much more ordinary subject than the classical subjects of an ode such as a god or the power of nature.

In Neruda's ode, he celebrates this ordinary thing to celebrate ordinary life and the thoughtfulness of the gift, but also to praise the usefulness of his socks:

The moral of my ode is this:
beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter.

Although the form, rhythm, and meter comes in different packages, the common theme of an ode is the praise of some subject. And this can be anything from socks to a god.

What are the features of an ode?

An ode is a formal lyric poem with a lofty theme. The style of language is elevated in order to glorify the subject. The earliest versions of odes were poems that were sung; in fact, the term “ode” comes from the Greek verb meaning “to sing.” 

The ode was originated by Greek poets, including Sappho. During the Renaissance, interest in the ode was revived. The ode has enjoyed periodic revivals since then, including the Romantic period. Some of the most famous odes were written by the English Romantic poet John Keats, including “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and “Ode to Beauty.”