The Ode

An ode is a formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. However, odes can take many shapes—they can be formal or casual. They can be sung or written.

Odes were first written in ancient Greece and Rome. The form was rediscovered in the 19th century, or the Romantic era, with poems like John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” An urn is a decorative, non-functional artifact you might find on a mantelpiece or a museum. Like that poem, the first odes were written about traditionally beautiful objects, elements of nature, or lofty emotions like love, putting these ideas on a pedestal.

Contemporary poets often turn that tradition on its head. Like them, you may want to write an ode about something ordinary, but that is really special to you, or even an anti-ode to something you hate.

A few questions to consider, on your own in writing, or in discussion with others:

What are some objects, places or people that are ordinary, but special to you? What about what you hate so much you could write it a whole anti-ode?

Read Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market.” What did you notice? How does the poet feel about the tuna? Why or how do you know? Odes give us insight into & teach us about the subject of the ode—a tuna at the market, for example. What or who else can odes give us insight about?

Read Kevin Young’s “Ode to the Hotel Near the Children's Hospital.” What do you notice? Why do you think this poet wrote this? What is it about? What do you learn about the poet?

Read Dean Young’s “Sean Penn Anti-Ode.” This poem starts out as an anti-ode to Sean Penn’s face. What does it end up about? What are some examples of ordinary, not-so-great stuff that sometimes happens to you? Might Sean Penn even have a lot of ordinary, not-so-great stuff happen to him?

Bonus: Read Natalie Shapero’s “Not Horses.” Why does the speaker envy insects over horses? What are examples of unpopular opinions you have?

Write the following lists:

• 5 ordinary things that you encounter in your daily life
• 5 people you see every day
• 5 places you visit regularly
• 5 ideas or concepts or facts that are important to you, or unpopular opinions you might have (for example—the sky is blue, it’s better to have loved and lost than never love at all, GIFs should be pronounced with a soft “g”)
• 5 things or places that you deal with on a daily basis that you do NOT like

Choose one thing or idea from your lists and write your own ode or anti-ode to it.