A Song for St. Cecilia Day

Ode, elaborate and stately lyric poem of some length. The ode dates back to the Greek choral songs that were sung and danced at public events and celebrations. The Greek odes of Pindar, which were modeled on the choral odes of Greek drama, were poems of praise or glorification. They were arranged in stanzas patterned in sets of three-a strophe and an antistrophe, which had an identical metrical scheme, and an epode, which had a structure of its own. The ode of the Roman poets Horace and Catullus employed the simpler and more personal lyric form of Sappho, Anacreon, and Alcaeus (see lyric). The ode in later European literature was conditioned by both the Pindaric and the Horatian forms. 

During the Renaissance the ode was revived in Italy by Gabriello Chiabrera and in France most successfully by Ronsard. Ronsard imitated Pindar in odes on public events and Horace in more personal odes. Horatian odes also influenced the 17th-century English poets, especially Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, and Andrew Marvell. Milton's ode "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" (1629) shows the influence of Pindar, as do the poems written for public occasions by his contemporary Abraham Cowley. However, the Cowleyan (or irregular) ode, originated by Cowley, disregarded the complicated metrical and stanzaic structure of the Pindaric form and employed freely altering stanzas and varying lines. In general the odes of the 19th-century romantic poets-Keats, Shelley, Coleridge-and of such later poets as Swinburne and Hopkins tend to be much freer in form and subject matter than the classical ode. Notable examples of the three kinds of ode are: Pindaric ode, e.g., Thomas Gray's "The Progress of Poesy"; Horatian ode, e.g., Keats's "To Autumn"; Cowleyan ode, e.g., Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality." Although the ode has been seldom used in the 20th century, Allen Tate in "Ode on the Confederate Dead" and Wallace Stevens in "The Idea of Order at Key West" made successful, and highly personal, use of the form. 

See studies by C. Maddison (1960), G. N. Shuster (1965), R. Shafer (1918, repr. 1966), J. D. Jump (1974), and P. H. Fry (1980).

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Horatian ode: an ode consisting of several stanzas all of the same form. Also called Lesbian ode, Sapphic ode. Cf. Pindaric ode.

   Horatian Ode: Horation odes, after the Latin poet Horace (65-8 B.C.), were written in quatrains in a more philosophical, civil manner. Examples include Andrew Marvell's Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland and Collins' Ode to Evening.

Pindaric ode: an ode consisting of several units, each of which is composed of a strophe and an antistrophe of identical form followed by a contrasting epode. Also called regular ode.

Pindaric Ode: The Pindaric ode imitates the passionate manner of Pindar (ca. 552-442 B.C.) and consists of a strophe, an antistrophe, and an epode, all irregular. Example: William Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality."

(Relevant link: Literary Terms)

o "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day" (1687) is a pseudo-Pindaric ode. The theme follows a 17th-century fashion of poetic praise for music on St. Cecilia's day (November 22nd). Dryden imitates the sounds of trumpet, flute, drum, and violin, seeing music as a symbol of divine harmony that will accompany the Day of Judgment as it did on the Day of Creation.

o Form: irregular rhyming

(Relevant Links: A Song for St. Cecilia's Day (Powerpoint))

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1. What kind of poem is this?

2. What is the theme of the poem? How does the poet present his theme?

3. What is the occasion for the song?

4. What does the poet think about the components of this universe?

5. What musical instruments are used in the poem? What actually is the harmony? What effect can each instrument bring when played? (ex. Lines 29-32. How do these lines sound to you when you read them?)

6. In stanza 7 in order to reinforce how touching the music can be, what mythological figure does the poet use? What is the story about?

7. What's the relation between "sacred lays" and the movement of "the sphere"?

8. What will happen when the trumpet is sounded? Explain "Music shall untune the sky."

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(Background Source: http://www.skdesigns.com/internet/music/images/index.htm)