Poetic Terms Dictionary
Poetic Form

Ode

From Greek oide: song. Three classical varieties: Pindaric (triadic stanzas), Horatian (uniform stanzas), irregular (Cowley). Keats refined a distinctive five-stanza form.

Definition

A formal, elevated lyric poem addressed to a particular person, object, or abstract quality, typically celebratory or meditative.

Example

Keats' 'Ode to a Nightingale' (1819); Shelley's 'Ode to the West Wind' (1820).

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