The Ode Form: Keats, Neruda, Brontë & Boland

Beyond the Verse

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe take a deep dive into one of poetry’s most flexible and lasting forms—the ode.

After Maiya’s introduction, Joe traces the form’s roots to ancient Greece and Rome, looking at Pindar’s public celebrations, Horace’s reflective quatrains, and Sappho’s lyrical songs. These classical beginnings shaped the odes we know today, from praise to introspection.

The hosts move through history with Edmund Spenser’s ‘Epithalamion’, and John Keats’s ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn.’ They discuss Keats’s fascination with beauty, time, and art’s permanence, comparing it with Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’ and Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess,’ which also question what art can truly preserve.

Emily Brontë’s ‘The Lady to Her Guitar’ follows, where Maiya notes how Brontë turns the ode inward, using music to express longing and loss. Joe adds that her regular rhyme contrasts with Keats’s restlessness, showing the ode’s wide emotional range.

They then focus on Pablo Neruda, whose odes turn ordinary things into poetry. From ‘Ode to My Socks’ to ‘Ode to Thread,’ Maiya and Joe explore how Neruda praises warmth, love, and everyday comfort. His humor and sincerity make beauty feel human and accessible.

The episode also features Tim Turnbull’s 'Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn,' which blends modern British life with classical structure, and Eavan Boland’s 'Ode to Suburbia,' which honors domestic life and women’s quiet strength. Both poets show how the ode still bridges the grand and the ordinary.

Maiya and Joe close by asking why the ode endures. Its power lies in openness—whether praising an urn, a home, or a pair of socks, it finds beauty anywhere.

Featured Poets:
John Keats • Emily Brontë • Pablo Neruda • Tim Turnbull • Eavan Boland

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