Ode is a special kind of poem

What is an ode? This word originally had such a meaning: a lyrical poem, performed by the choir and to the music. The odes in Ancient Greece did not differ in any particular poetic genre. This word is translated as "verse". Ancient authors divided them into three main categories: dance, lamentable and laudatory. Ode is a form of expression of thought, to which such brilliant figures of antiquity as Pindar and Horace often resorted.

The first wrote epikinia - laudatory songs to wrestlers who won the arena. The main task of such voiced poems was to maintain the morale of the competing. Their features are an accentuated grandiloquence, solemnity and rich verbal ornamentation. Pindar's ode is often a poem complicated for perception, enriched by unmotivated associative transitions. After some time, this kind of poem again became devoid of this special "eloquence" and was considered a laudatory song. The Roman author of Horace finally left the "lyrical disorder", characteristic of the work of the Greek Pindar. He writes without any high-flowness, in a style that is understandable to all, sometimes with an admixture of irony. His poems are often addressed to a particular person. It seems that this is an attempt to convince someone in a poetic form.

Ode as a genre of a poem after the fall of the ancient culture that followed the destruction of the Roman Empire, for a long time forgotten. Return to it already in the era of revival, which was due to the desire for classicism. But there is also a difference between the works of writers of the XVII-XVIII centuries and Antiquity. For example, the ancient Greek poets sang their odes, often under musical and choreographic accompaniment. And poets XVII-XVIII centuries, they just wrote and read. However, like the ancient authors, they turned to a musical instrument - the lyre, though they did not hold it in their hands, to the gods Apollo and Zeus, but, naturally, they did not believe in their existence. Thus, the Renaissance poets were in many ways imitators. In addition, in the ode of the ancient Greek poets, there were many more feelings and impressions. Glorifying the winners, they did not forget to praise their fellow citizens and ancestors. This was not enough for Russian and European writers od. The delight that they expressed was often artificial. Thus, we can say that, for example, the ode of Lomonosov is just an imitation of the classics, and not its reflection. This was noted by the poet Dmitriev, who ridiculed similar works in his satire "Strange Attitude."

In the Renaissance, the ode is most often a verse designed to exalt rulers or generals. In addition to Russia, this genre has spread in many countries of Europe. Such poems were usually long, pompous. For example, this was the "Ode of Ascension to the Throne of Elisabeth," written by Lomonosov.

Over time, such poems stopped writing using artificial construction elements. Disappeared senseless appeals to the lyre and the Olympic gods. Nowadays, an ode is not a text, satiated with high-flown and flattering phrases, but a natural expression of genuine enthusiasm. The very word is now rarely used. Instead of an "ode", poets often say "duma", "hymn" or "song".