Pat Hamer Per. 6
Ode 1
Strophe 1
CHORUS
Numberless are the world's wonders, but none
More wonderful than man; the storm gray sea
Yields to his prows, the huge crests bear him high;
Earth, holy and inexhaustible, is graven
With shining furrows where his plows have gone
Year after year, the timeless labor of stallions.
Antistrophe 1
The light-boned birds and beasts that cling to cover,
The lithe fish lighting their reaches of dim water,
All are taken, tamed in the net of his mind;
The lion on the hill, the wild horse windy-maned,
Resign to him; and his blunt yoke has broken
The sultry shoulders of the mountain bull.
Strophe 2
Words also, and thought as rapid as air,
He fashions to his good use; statecraft is his
And his the skill that deflects the arrows of snow,
The spears of winter rain: from every wind
He has made himself secure--from all but one:
In the late wind of death he cannot stand.
Antistrophe 2
O clear intelligence, force beyond all measure!
O fate of man, working both good and evil!
When the laws are kept, how proudly his city stands!
When the laws are broken, what of his city then?
Never may the anarchic man find rest at my hearth,
Never be it said that my thoughts are his thoughts.
The diction of throughout the ode
portrays one theme of awe and amazement of the accomplishments man has made. The
use of words such as wonders, yields, tamed, and intelligence gives the reader
a tone of awe. Wonders signify that the accomplishment is amazing or wonderful.
This brings to mind the 7 wonders of the modern world which are all beautiful
and breathtaking and impressive. Yields brings to mind like let the other
person or thing go first such as in driving when the driver is to yield into
the next lane. In this ode even the sea yields to the ships man has made. Tamed
shows that man can even take control and tame animals to do work for them.
Intelligence is what separates humans from the rest of animals on earth because
humans are able to think and be intelligent in their decision making.
Diction Fear
Another theme diction portrays in
the ode is that of fear. The words death, proudly, broken, and anarchic all
give a feeling of fear and warning. Death is the one thing that humans can not
defeat. They can defeat evil and each other yet they are unable to beat death.
Proudly alone would not give off a sense of fear, however since Pride is the
trait the Greek Gods hate the most and punish the harshest for it was definitely
seen as a fearful thing. Broken is also a fearful word because with brokenness
comes pain and sorrow and an end to the way things once were. Anarchy was
viewed as the greatest danger to society and thus an anarchic man would be the
most dangerous person to the society at the time.
The
syntax is a very crucial and integral part of the ode. The syntax is very
interesting in that it features inversion and other strange wordings in
sentences. An example of syntax is; earth, holy and inexhaustible, is grave.
This is an interesting use of inversion but is used to show that earth is holy
and inexhaustible which are more of awe rather than the tone of fear which it
would if it was near graven. “Resign to him; and his blunt yoke is broken”
which is a comma splice is used to keep broken from the beginning which would
not go with the theme of awe and amazement. The next example is also a comma
splice, but is used to accentuate that “he fashions to his good use; statecraft
is” to keep up with the theme of positive and good and of awe for the human
race.
There are many instances of
figurative language throughout the ode. One example of figurative language
deals with the huge crests of a ship and how it is able to defend itself
against the raging sea and still be victorious. This portrays a picture of a
picture high above the waves in the middle of a stormy ocean, which shows that
man can even conquer the ocean. Another use of figurative language is comparing
the human mind to a net that can trap and hold valuable information to survive
and flourish in this land. The picture of a lion on a hill shows a powerful
creature looking over its territory just as humans do amongst themselves. Another use of figurative language is the
skills that deflect the arrows of snow which shows that humans have been able
to even survive through some of the world’s harshest environments and weather
that is as dangerous as an arrow which is snow and could kill with chilling
quickness from hypothermia. To add on to this imagery the spears of winter rain
also goes with the arrows of snow which show that weather is a worthy
adversary, but is beaten nonetheless.
