An ode (OHD) is a type of poem, generally written to address and praise a

subject. It utilizes rhyme and a complex or irregular metrical form.

It comes from the Middle French ode via the Late Latin ode, meaning “lyric song,”
An ode A formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often
celebrates a person, place, thing, or idea. Its stanza forms vary. It Shows respect
for or celebrates the worth or influence by another. An ode is a poem in tribute to
something or someone admired by the poet.

Types of Ode There are three types of ode: Pindaric, Horatian, and irregular.

The Pindaric Ode

This style was named after ancient Greek poet Pindar, who is often
credited as the creator of the ode. Pindar’s odes were choral poems about
heroics intended for musical accompaniment and performed at public
events. Pindaric odes follow a three-part structure that consists of a
strophe, an antistrophe, and a concluding epode. These odes have
varying line lengths and irregular rhyme patterns between sections. The
strophe and antistrophe typically follow the same rhyme and meter, while
the epode introduces a new pattern.

The Horatian Ode

This type of ode was named after Latin poet Horace, and unlike Pindar’s
heroic odes, the Horatian form is more intimate, contemplative, and
informal in tone and subject matter. These are also called homostrophic
odes, as a consistent meter, line length, and rhyme scheme is used
throughout the entire poem. They are generally written in couplets (two-
line stanzas) or quatrains (four-line stanzas).

Irregular Odes
As the term indicates, these are odes that do not follow the conventions
of the Pindaric or Horatian forms. Traditionally, these poems follow
certain patterns of rhyme and meter, but they do not adhere to the same
structures of the other types. As of the mid-1900s, many irregular odes
have been written entirely in free verse, their writers no longer utilizing
even an irregular rhyme scheme or metrical pattern.
The Elements of an Ode
The ode form often contains the three elements: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the
epode.
The strophe is the first part of a choral ode. Traditionally, in Greek choral odes, which
were recited, the strophe was chanted by the chorus as it moved across the stage. In
the modern interpretation, the term strophe signifies the first distinct unit of an ode.
The antistrophe can be understood as the reversal of the strophe. In ancient Greek
odes, the antistrophe occurred as the chorus moved back across the stage to its
original side after reciting the strophe. However, in modern odes, the antistrophe is
simply the second distinct unit in an ode’s structure. It is melodically identical in
rhyme and meter to the strophe, and it serves as a kind of response to the strophe.

The epode is the “after song.” It is the third and final section of an ode and
traditionally occurred when the Greek chorus came together in the center of the stage.
While the strophe and antistrophe share the same rhyme and meter, the epode
introduces a new metrical structure to the poem.

Odes may also contain rhyme and meter, as well as an invocation, where the poet
typically begins by directly addressing the ode’s subject.

An Ode for Ben Jonson" ode, descriptive, Lyrical and Herrickal poem
from ( Hesperides, 1648)

Themes : - Admiration /

impact of Ben Jonson.

- intimacy and nostalgia of Ben Jonson.

General Meaning :
"An Ode for Ben Jonson" is a tribute or praise to the English playwright and poet
Jonson of the early seventeenth century. Robert Herrick Shows his admiration and
his respect or he celebrates the worth or influence of his Father in literture Ben
Jonson . is in an even funnier little stanza-form, and it’s real down-home,
mentioning the bars that they drink at and the places that they went to to make
their poetry.

It is an ode, and descriptive poem in which the writer chose the theme of
Nostalgics for his friend or the past. The poem sticks on the theme of showing the
impact Ben Jonson had on the life and works of Robert Herrick.
Detailed meaning
Beginning with the title "An Ode for Ben Jonson " the reader will recognize
that it is a lyrical poem with a serious tone. The speaker who is speaking
the serious tone is one who most readers wouldn't expect to deliver a
serious tone, author Robert Herrick.
The reasoning for a lack of a serious tone from Herrick is because he was
known to be a whimsical, highly polished writer who was extremely
artificial, making it difficult for one to decipher if the poem is serious or
erratic. Although the poem is written in lyric to make it easy on the ear, it
still caries a serious reflective tone on what Jonson's influence on Herrick
at a young age.

Line by line :
Line 1 Ah! Ben!
The poem begins with "Ah Ben" as an address to Ben Jonson for whom the
poem is written as a reflection of how Jonson had impacted Herrick.
It is an Apostrophe, addressing someone who is absent which is Ben
Jonson. One might also notice how it does not state Mr. Jonson, taking on
a friendlier tone, as if Herrick and Jonson could've been friends.
Line 2 Say how, or when
He is asking him a question in the next line,
Line 3 Shall we thy guests
Herrick says, and asks Ben Jonson, how or when shall we your guests,
he uses a lot of Enjambment and the he completes his question in the next
line because the meaning is not completed.
Line 4 Meet at those Lyric feasts
The poem then continues with Herrick says “Meet at those Lyric feasts “
he is referring to the lyrical feast which symbolize the gatherings that
Herrick, as a disciple of Ben Jonson had, along with other members of "The
Tribe of Ben" at the Sun, Dog, and Tun.
Line 5 Made at the Sun,
Line 6 the Dog, the Triple?
the Sun, Dog, and Tun, are all famous Taverns in London where the group
would gather to read and enjoy Jonson's works, Dining and drinking were
accompanied by rituals of fellowship, extempore versifying and orations,
and game-playing.
In Elizabethan England on the corner of Friday Street and Bread Street was
a fine dining and drinking establishment called the Mermaid Tavern. The
building itself burned down in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
Shakespeare was describing it as the meeting place of Fraternity of
Sireniacal Gentlemen, a drinking club that met on the first Friday of the
month and is thought to have included famous members, most with very
close ties to Shakespeare. Men like Ben Jonson, John Fletcher, and Francis
Beaumont, were thought to have been members and there are a few
scholars who think that William Shakespeare might have been among the
members of this club as well.
London taverns developed a culture of clubbing, Urban sociability and wit .
“The full membership of the sons of Ben is to be found among the poets
and gentlemen who joined Jonson in the life of intellectual conviviality that
centred on London’s taverns and eating houses. Drinking and dining clubs
were important points of cultural contact.
The Dog was favourate haunt of Ben Jonson’s.
The Dog tavern was one of much resort by the cavaliers and dependants on
the sunshine of royalty. Pepys mentions it as a house of that character.
a tavern : poetry-scene in those days, just like..now coffee-houses , taverns
– It’s an old tradition,, apparently, for poets to get drunk and shout their
verses at each other, banging tankards on the table, in the tavern.
Line 7 where we such clusters had,
He says that these places which they were gathering, and meeting, the
places that they went to, to make their poetry, in which they were drinking
wine together, talking about lyric, meeting wits, in these famous tavern,
drinking-houses of that time.
Line 8 As made us nobly wild, not mad ;
In this line Herrick states that the works made them "nobly wild, not mad"
showing that they read Jonson's works for the entertainment and not so
much for the fact that they had to.
(“nobly wild not mad”, that’s a good definition – “crazy wisdom”).
Line 9 and yet each verse of thine,
Line 10 Ou-tdid the meat, out-did the frolic wine.
Then in lines, "and yet each verse of thine, Outdid the meat, outdid the frolic
wine" reveals that the works, of Ben Jonson, were the reasoning for the
gatherings in there places, Taverns , not so much for the food or for the
consuming alcoholic beverages.
Line 11 My Ben
Again, he still addressing Ben Jonson.
Line 12 Or Come again :
he misses him and he want him to come back again and do whatever they used to
do.
He is telling him, or giving him two choices :
Either you come again,
Line 13 Or send to us
He is telling him in the previous line, Either you come again, and he completes in
this line, or send to us : 👇🏻
Line 14 Thy wit’s great over-plus ;
Send to us your wit’s great over-plus, send your intelligence, your great wisdom which
is pretty great and valuable. This line states clearly how admired Herrick is! He is fully
inspired and influenced by the way Ben Jonson acts, writes, and so on.
Line 15 but teach us yet
Line 16 Wisly to husband it
Jonson was renowned for the craftmamship and economy of his art
Craftsmanship in art means a skill or dexterity exhibited by a person for creating
an artistic work with hands. The work may be done using tools or by not using it.
It is a quality which may be admired. Artistic works such as painting, carving,
sculpting etc are performed using hands with or without tools. Such skills may be
categorized as craftsmanship.
So he is telling him and asking him to teach them from his wisdom, from his art to
be like him or less.
Line 17 Lest we that talent spend :
Talent = Literary skill or precious coin.
He is telling that either you come, or you send to us and teach us your wisdom,
your great Literary skills or precious coin. In order to be like you. It is clearly
admiration poem.
Line 18 : and having once brought to an end
When you Teach us your skills, your intelligence, your great way of writing we will
Put an end to it.
Line 19 : That precious stock, the store
We will put an end to that precious stock, the store , we will keep it safe. All your
poetry, your writings, wishdom, all of your skills is valuable, is precious stock. You
are valuable and precious poet.
Line 20 of such a wit the world should have no more.
The store of such a wit, such a Skills, talents, it should be remain and we will keep
safe of it. The world should have no more poet like you, the world should have no
more skills, no more writings like yours, no more wit. Because yours is the
greatest one.

‫ لعدم توفر شرح كافي او عدم توفر‬:( ‫بعض األجهزة األدبية وبعض شرح األسطر ه ُّـو اجتهاد شخصي‬
.‫على االطالق عن القصيدة‬
ٰ ‫مصادر‬
Litrerary devices :
Line 1 : (Ah! Ben!) Apostrophe, addressing to Ben Jonson.
Line 2 : Say how, or when : Caesura.
Line 3 : enjambment ( the meaning is not completed it will be
completed in the next line ).
Like 5 & 6 : Made at the Sun, the Dog, the Triple? (Caesura)
Like 6 : Triple Tun ( Alliteration).
Line 7 = Clusters = meetings, gatherings.
Line 8 : As = simile
Like 8 : Made mad ( Alliteration).
Line 11 : My Ben ( enjambment).
Line 19 = That precious stock = it could be Metaphor to his skills and
poetry.
Line 19 That precious stock, the store ( Alliteration & enjambment ).