ode

views updated May 11 2018

ode Lyric poem of unspecific form but typically of heightened emotion or public address. The first great writer of odes was Pindar, but more simple were the lyrical odes of Horace and Catullus. In 17th-century England, it was taken up by Jonson, Herrick, and Marvell. Representative of the more personal type are the 19th-century odes of Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats.

World Encyclopedia

ode

views updated May 18 2018

ode / ōd/ • n. a lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject, often elevated in style or manner and written in varied or irregular meter. ∎ hist. a poem meant to be sung.DERIVATIVES: od·ic / ˈōdik/ adj.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

ode

views updated May 14 2018

ode a lyric poem, typically one in the form of an address to a particular subject, written in varied or irregular metre; a classical poem of a kind originally meant to be sung.

In classical times, odes written by Pindar were generally dignified or exalted in subject and style and were based on the odes sung by the chorus (choral odes) in Greek tragedy. Those written in Latin by Horace provide a simpler, more intimate model.

Recorded from the late 16th century, the word comes via French and late Latin from Greek ōidē, Attic form of aoidē ‘song’.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

ode

views updated May 21 2018

ode. In literature, a lyrical poem. In Ancient Greece an ode was recited to mus. acc. In its mus. sense, the term often means a ceremonial work, e.g. Purcell's Ode for St Cecilia's Day and Elgar's Coronation Ode, but sometimes the term is used for works with particular significance to the composer, e.g. Elgar's The Music Makers and Stravinsky's Ode: Elegiacal Chant.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE

ode

views updated Jun 11 2018

ode XVI. — F. — late L. ōda, ōdē — Gr. ōidē, Attic var. of aoidē song, lay, f. aeídein sing.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

ODE

views updated Jun 11 2018

ODE Maths. ordinary differential equation

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH