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Pindaric

 
Dictionary: Pin·dar·ic
(pĭn-dăr'ĭk) pronunciation
adj.
  1. Relating to or characteristic of the poetic style of Pindar.
  2. Of or characteristic of a Pindaric ode.
n.
A Pindaric ode.


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Literary Dictionary: Pindaric
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Pindaric [pin‐da‐rik], characteristic of or derived from the work of the Greek poet Pindar (Pindaros, 518–438 BCE), a writer of public choral odes. The Pindaric ode has an unfixed number of stanzas arranged in groups of three, in which a strophe and antistrophe sharing the same length and complex metrical pattern are followed by an epode of differing length and pattern. This triadic arrangement matches the movements of the chorus that would have performed Pindar's works on public occasions. In English, two rare examples of ‘regular’ odes conforming to this Pindaric model are Thomas Gray's ‘The Progress of Poesy’ and ‘The Bard’ (both 1747). More common, though, is the ‘irregular’ or ‘Cowleyan’ ode comprising a number of strophes that do not correspond in length or in the arrangement of their lines: Abraham Cowley's ‘Pindarique Odes’ (1656) began this kind of departure from strict Pindaric precedent. A more clearly distinct tradition in the composition of odes is represented by the Horatian ode, which employs a regularly repeated stanza form.

WordNet: Pindaric
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: an ode form used by Pindar; has triple groups of triple units
  Synonym: Pindaric ode


 
 
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pindarical
Pindaric ode (ode)
Structure (literary term)

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more