The Ode: "Ode to Magic 101"

     I remember John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" from poetry annotation in grade 10 AP English. It was one of my favorite poems from that class. It was with this poem (and Shakespeare's plays) that I found allusions interesting in poems. I thought they sometimes added a lot more depth than similes and metaphors. 

If you couldn't tell by now, I looked into Ode poetry this week, and it started with Ode - Poetry Foundation. After a few more sites, I surprisingly learned more about odes than I previously did in English class. 

An ode is a short lyric poem that praises an individual, an idea, or an event. In ancient Greece, odes were originally accompanied by music—in fact, the word “ode” comes from the Greek word aeidein, which means to sing or to chant. Odes are often ceremonial, and formal in tone. There are several different types of odes, but they are all highly structured and adhere to poetic forms. (Masterclass, 2021).

What's unique from the other poetry forms I've practiced so far are the ode's three main types: 

• Pindaric: named for the ancient Greek poet Pindar who is credited with creating the ode form. This type consists of a strophe, a harmonious antistrophe, and an epode. They have irregular line lengths and rhyme schemes.
• Horation: named after the Roman poet Horace. It consists of 2-4 line stanzas with the same meter, rhyme scheme, and length.
• Irregular: not like the other two types. It has a rhyme scheme, but it also has an irregular verse structure and stanza patterns.

My ode poem:

"Ode to Magic 101"

Streaks of purple danced around the room,

and so I blinked at them, faded and flickered 

'ere the crystal orb's message of doom 

and the return of a long-bearded wizard

whose spell hides in that powerful lesson 

abracadabra! And now you've learned 

if the feline talks; and warn'ngs it whispers 

that familiars are at your discretion 

for when you step out, you are spurned 

unless I pluck out its crooked whiskers. 

The cubed walls with all its tricks 

may or may not mystify with fact and fake, 

but if I flip between the bricks, 

then me, the joker with a spade 

will write the right incantation

to open the locked doors, to rattle 

the hypnotized minds of youth

and to spark a vivid firework sensation

fit to endure this lifelong wicked battle

and become Aegis in a prophecy of truth.

In the end, all is left enchanted

by the little hats with the wands,

and all their wishes granted

while making magical bonds

that trance them into the right spells;

not hocus pocus nor silly charms

but to see them learn from their mage,

and in the dark forest where a creature dwells,

fly away, away til nothing there harms 

then stand bewitchingly on that stage. 

What does it mean?

    I honestly thought I was creating a Horation ode, but I was specifically inspired by John Keats' style. I thought I knew what I was writing an ode to, but then the ideas of magic and school blended together more and more as I wrote. I could include annotations to make the poem easier to understand, but feel free to interpret whatever and however you want. 

See you again!