Ode
Kerrigan Servati
Purpose of ODE
History of Ode
The characteristics have been modified between generations.
Characteristics of Ode
To identify a Ode poem look for-
-The poem has serious themes such as justice, truth or beauty
-Stanza length is complex, and the meters are varied
-It includes imagination and intelluct
-Or it glorifies & celebrates the subject that it is included in the poem
Examples of a Ode
Ode To Autumn
By:John Keats
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Ode on Solitude
Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.
Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.
Blest, who can unconcernedly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,
Sound sleep by night; study and ease,
Together mixed; sweet recreation;
And innocence, which most does please,
With meditation.
Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.
Citations
McIntyre, John. "Ode on Solitude." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2014. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175899>.
"Poetic Form: Ode." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2014. <http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poetic-form-ode>.
"Glossary Terms." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2014. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/glossary-term/ode>.