Poetic Forms- Ode

The ode has been rarely used in 20^th or 21^st centuries, but poets now write them to accentuate a theme. Originated by the Greeks as choral songs, especially in Greek drama, odes were arranged in stanzas that included moving from a lyrical premise ("strophe"), a return to the premise ("antistrophe"), and a finish ("epode"). Interestingly, in a drama, the Greek chorus would literally walk across the stage while singing the strophe and back again while singing the antistrophe.

The ode evolved in the 19^th century to become lyrical poetry rather than songs and over time has come to mean any metrical poem that has a lyrical quality. Since then, odes have directly spoken to their subjects.

Since being lyrical is at its heart, an ode should be written in a classic meter, such as iambic pentameter or tetrameter ("Poetic Meter"), and utilize extensive rhyming patterns. There is no set stanza style or length.

Example:

Ode to the Boom Crane

What would we ever do without your towers?
A grace that stands against the cobalt sky.
your silhouette could fascinate for hours,
the height and deft of muscle you supply.

A beam of gray floats silently above me,
suspended from a ribbon made of steel,
from left to right you swing around the birch tree
and carefully your gears unwind the reel.

While each of levered arms supporting lattice
of trusses and a maze of countless walls,
without your Herculean apparatus,
there wouldn't be skyscrapers, cities, or malls.

My eyes perceive the beauty of your profile,
and like the gentle birds that share your name,
you rise above the turmoil and the junk pile,
with little thought of what the world became.