Poetic Terms Dictionary
Poetic Form

Pindaric Ode

Pindar (522–443 BC) composed odes for athletic victors at Greek games. Ben Jonson and later Cowley (irregularly) brought the form to English; it demands elaborate prosodic architecture.

Definition

A celebratory ode modelled on Pindar, built in three-part stanzas (strophe, antistrophe, epode) of great metrical complexity.

Example

Thomas Gray's 'The Progress of Poesy' (1757) imitates Pindaric structure.

Related Terms

Horatian Ode Ode Strophe Epode