An Ode is a type of poem that focuses on a single object or condition that the writer believes is amazing and praiseworthy. This type of poem centers on a person, an idea, a place, a memory, or any other thing one wishes to praise.
The topic or subject will be praised and highly regarded throughout the poem. This type of poem is a form of praise and pride for the topic that has been chosen. For instance, one may write an ode to their spouse, to their dog, or even to a more abstract center, like an idea or a feeling.
There is no rule that dictates what exactly an ode poem has to be written about to be considered as such. However, the poem must favor the subject and hold the subject in high regard and praise them as such. Ode poems are positive in that regard and thus are a strong form of praise and tribute.
Examples
Some famous examples of odes include "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats, "Ode to Joy" by Friedrich Schiller, "Ode to the West Wind" by Percy Bysshe Shelley, and "Ode on a Grecian Urn" also by John Keats. These poems are celebrated for their lyrical beauty, emotional depth, and the way they pay tribute to their respective subjects.
Intimations of Immortality (Excerpt) by William Wordsworth
I
There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;-
Turn whereso'er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.
II
The rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the rose,
The Moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath past away a glory from the earth.
Related Terms
alba, anacreontic, balada, ballad, ballade, bucolic, canso, chanson, clerihew, dirge, dithyramb, eclogue, elegy, English sonnet, epic, epigram, epithalamium, epode, epopee, epopoeia, epos, georgic, ghazel, haiku, Horatian ode, idyll, Italian sonnet, jingl