Ode in English Literature

The ode is a long lyric poem, often in the form of an address, generally dignified and serious in subject and treatment, exalted in feelings, elevated in style and elaborate in its stanziac structure. It is often inspired by some great public occasion. In it the speaker addresses someone to express his inner grief. Its thought is developed in a somber atmosphere but it ends in hope and consolation.

Odes are of three kinds: the Pindaric or regular ode, the Horatian or private ode; and the irregular ode. The Pindaric ode is developed by the Greek poet, Pindar. It is modeled on the songs by the chorus in Greek dramas. Gray’s The Progress of Poesy is a Pindaric ode. The Horatian ode is modeled on the matter, tone, and form of the odes of the Roman Horace. It has regular stanzas. It deals with personal grief of the poet. Keats’ To Autumn is a Horatian ode. The odes which are not written in regular stanzas are called irregular odes. These were introduced in 1656 by Abraham Cowley. This kind of ode may deal with public or private issues. Wordsworth’s Ode: Intimation of Immortality is an irregular ode. Despite those difference, in all these types, music is created by the use of rhythm, rhyme, and musical words.