ODES Modeled after poems written by Pablo Neruda

What is an ODE? Ode (from the Ancient Greek ὠδή) is a form of stately and elaborate lyrical verse. Lyric poetry refers to either poetry that has the form and musical quality of a song, or a usually short poem that expresses personal feelings, which may or may not be set to music.

Pablo Nerudo wrote a specific type of Ode now referred to as Nerudo-esque Odes

Pablo Neruda

Who was Pablo Neruda? • Pablo Neruda – pseudonym – real name is Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto • Born in Chile in 1904 • Family disapproved of him being a writer • Paid with his own money to publish his first book of poems • Found a publisher for Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair – made him famous

- Was know as “the people’s poet” - International Peace Prize, Nobel Prize for Literature - Interested in politics and wrote about them

Ode To a Lemon Out of lemon flowers loosed on the moonlight, love's lashed and insatiable essences, sodden with fragrance, the lemon tree's yellow emerges, the lemons move down from the tree's planetarium Delicate merchandise! The harbors are big with itbazaars for the light and the barbarous gold. We open the halves of a miracle, and a clotting of acids brims into the starry divisions: creation's original juices, irreducible, changeless, alive: so the freshness lives on in a lemon, in the sweet-smelling house of the rind, the proportions, arcane and acerb.

Cutting the lemon the knife leaves a little cathedral: alcoves unguessed by the eye that open acidulous glass to the light; topazes riding the droplets, altars, aromatic facades. So, while the hand holds the cut of the lemon, half a world on a trencher, the gold of the universe wells to your touch: a cup yellow with miracles, a breast and a nipple perfuming the earth; a flashing made fruitage, the diminutive fire of a planet.

Subjects of Pablo Neruda’s Odes • • • Ode To Conger Chowder Ode To Wine Ode To Tomatoes Ode To Maize Ode To a Large Tuna in the Market Ode To a Chestnut on the Ground Ode To an Artichoke Ode To a Lemon Ode To Salt

Ode to Sausage O, sausage sizzling in your succulent fat. You disgust humanity’s vegans and vegetarians, Yet you dissolve in spite of them Within the depths of my mouth. Those who say you are nothing but crude fat In a pigskin casing are blind to your salty sweet taste, Your crispy softness Your fierce fragrance. Considered impure by many, You are the devil’s tool of temptation. A serpent of kielbasa. You are the flavor incarnate. Presidents have their nations, A boot has its confident shine, A world of imperfection has you. Jimmy Morrill

Ode to Watermelon I bite into you and relish the burst of wild flavor I haven’t tasted all winter. your sweet juice floods my mouthburies my tongue in fresh pinkish flesh. I swallow your cold fruitiness and my taste buds smile with excitement. Oh, watermelon, the scent of June wind mixed with the heat of August sun washes over me as I take another bite of summer. Marnie Briggs

Tips for Neruda-Esque Odes - pick a subject from your everyday life that you have strong feelings about - common household object - food works well - Describe the subject inside and out - Exaggerate its admirable qualities, until it seems to become central to human existence

- Tap all five senses, if possible - Use metaphors and similes - Perhaps directly address the subject of the ode - (Oh, Oreo, I adore you) - Tell your feelings about the subject and give exalted descriptions of its qualities - Keep the lines short - Choose strong words - Use a planning sheet before you begin writing

Sample student Ode - humorous Ode to the Toilet. You are My pot of relief, My pearly seat, My enchanted throne. Like my best friend, You are always there For me, through Thick and thin. Though sometimes you Might smell. Butt you are always There for me My friend, Toilet. -Alex Erickson

Sample student Ode - serious Ode to the Shower Warm, My preview of Heaven, The cherry on top of a bad day. My wake-up call in the morning, My own steam room, Water massage when I’m sore. My own personal refuge, The steam on the mirror makes Mom steam, The standing hot tub, My own haven where family doesn’t go. Jayson Edge