An ode is a poem which celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. It is a formal address to something close, far, or invisible. The word "ode" comes from the Greek word aeidein, meaning "to sing or chant". Its roots lie in lyric poetry, and its branches stretch out to encompass a variety of forms.
Originally accompanied by music and dance, and later reserved by the Romantic poets to convey their strongest sentiments, the ode is a fanciful event. We read a few odes aloud- Max used his "ode" voice, a combination of pomp and declaration.
"Ode to a Pair of Socks" by Pablo Neruda (with audio)
"Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" by Gary Soto
"Ode On a Unicycle" by Ken Nesbitt
"Ode to the West Wind" by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Then Max made a list in his journal of 15 things which deserve an ode from his hands, including his sisters, a car, a lightpost, Hurricane Creek, words, a movie, a bee, a road, a railroad, a playground, a grass meadow, a flower, an apple, a fence, a book, and a swing. The swing captured his ode-ing fancy, and he decided to write and ode to the swing right away, while watching Milla and Micah fly, twist, and giggle through the air.
Since he was enjoying odes, I told him about poet Danielle Pafunda’s simple, four-line ode structure:
Ode to (ode topic)
(one word describing the subject) + (one word describing the subject)
(fact about the subject)
wild card line (imagine your subject speaking or acting or speak to your subject)
He loves formulas, and brevity certainly lent its appeal. He played around with the four-line formula and his remaining topics. Then, he jumped up and exclaimed:
"Mom! I want to share my swing ode the way that kid shared the sock ode! Can I read it aloud and you record it and put in on your blog so other kids can hear it? "
How can I resist? I finally found an excuse to use Garage Band, which deserves an ode of its own.... And here is Max's ode.
