Ode

Ode (from the Ancient Greek ) is a form of stately and elaborate lyrical verse. A classic ode is structured in three parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. Different forms such as the homostrophic ode and the irregular ode also exist. Each of these culminated in what have been called odes, but the former, in the hands of Alcaeus, Anacreon and Sappho, came closer to the lyric. On the other hand, the choir-song, in which the poet spoke for himself, but always supported, or interpreted, by a chorus, led to the ode proper. Alcman is supposed to have given this poems a strophic arrangement, and the strophe has come to be essential to an ode. Stesichorus, Ibycus and Simonides of Ceos led the way to the two great masters of ode among the ancients: Pindar and Bacchylides. The form and verse-arrangement of Pindar's great lyrics have regulated the type of the heroic ode. It is now perceived that they are consciously composed in very elaborate measures, and that each is the... full article at wikipedia