As part of our poetry unit, you will be writing odes.  The dictionary tells us that an ode is a lyric poem, rhymed or unrhymed, in which the poet speaks to some person or thing.  An ode is characterized by lofty emotion.  To put it more simply, you write an ode to praise something you admire.

            Classical odes, some more than 2,500 years old, were highly complex in their meter and stanza structure, featuring repetition, formal language, and an exalted tone.  The word ode comes from the Greek word aeidein, which means to sing or to chant, and most odes feature the same kind of emotional intensity that a singer or musician brings to her work.

            Romantic poets like John Keats wrote odes to the people and things that inspired them

(such as Keats’ Ode on a Grecian Urn that was read in class).  Modern poets have rediscovered the traditional form but also use odes to pay homage to personal and everyday topics.  When you write an ode, you might have some fun writing an ode to a simple object from your everyday life. 

            To give you a better idea of this poetry form, here’s an ode by Becky Gallagher.  Notice how she doesn’t write about shampoo, she actually speaks to it:

O Shampoo!

As you tangle through my wet hair,

your lemony extract fills the

steamy air.

How you mush and squush!

Cunningly, you pick your way through

the steaming rain.

O Shampoo!

What strategic stuff has Paul Mitchell

put in your

ivory plastic casing?

Shampoo,

A companion to trust,

I can decisively dedicate my shower time to

This gel from the heavens!

Finally, your concentrated

beautifier

is washed away with the massaging steady

rainstorm

Leaving

my

hair

proud.

Some features to notice in O Shampoo!

(***these are the writing techniques to use in YOUR ODE***)

• the first-person voice, which directly speaks to the subject: the shampoo
• the sensory imagery: sight, smell, touch, sound…
• the exaggeration of the shampoo’s admirable qualities
• the specific descriptions and details
• the short lines
• the humor that results from Gallagher’s boundless enthusiasm
• the strong and deliberate conclusion

            Odes to everyday life and ordinary objects can be a lot of fun to write.  You get to expound without limits about something you love.  Choose an object to write about that you absolutely adore.  You almost can’t be too extreme in your praise when it comes to an ode.

            We will work toward completing our odes within the next two weeks.  As a way to publish our odes for a wider audience, we will try to get our writing (and our objects we’re writing about) in a display case at FMS.  You will need to bring in the object (or a photograph of the object) that you are writing about, so that these everyday objects can be on display right next to the odes that sing their praises.

            Please let me know what questions you have, o glorious students of mine!

                                                                                    ~ Mr. Ball