ODE. 
it employs. ‘The paffions which it generally affe&ts are 
thofe of love, tendernefs, hope, cheerfulnefs, and penfive 
e 
writer, 
«A drop of Helicon, a flow 
Cull’d from the i S Favourite bower.” 
ach. Hymn. in Apoll. v. 112. 
is pfalm is one of the fifteen oni are sar ea ¢ Odes 
of Oe eaten ”* that is, which were fung when the peo- 
u ufa ie em at the el fefti- 
r pe The retu urn 
is is ceranly called * the afcenfion or coming up from Babylon.” 
Ezr 
One of the e grand divifions of the order of poems now 
under confideration, which is conftituted by that middle 
fLyle of compofition, to which we have above referred, may 
include both thofe lyric compofitions, in which iweeeaels and 
fublimity are fo es lended, that every part of the 
to partake equally of both ; and thofe, in 
uch a manner that 
the complexion o 
fified. As exam to 
otft pfalm, which is fuppofed to excel the third ode of the 
ok of Horace (though juftly celebrated), as well 
race and elegance, as in force and dignity ; and the 81ft 
pfalm, which affords a corre¢ idea of this ‘Gad of ari fo 
thet any one who makes himfelf mafter of its general cha- 
raGter, genius and arrangement, will feel perfectly “fatiefied 
n 
concerning the nature and form of a perfect ode. b 
thefe van the ftyle and cadence of the whole poe 
flow in one equal and uniform tenour : but there are others, 
whic hoe more cha 
qual 
of {ublimity 
Gr ere 
tle nae dian rife aly to inlieey both in the ‘fobjeét 
-and fentiments; fuch alfo are thofe which commence ina 
mournful firain, and conclude with exultation and triumph. 
— in fine, are all thofe in which the ftyle or matter is in 
refpe&t diverfified and unequal. This inequality of 
ftyle is perfe@ly confiftent with the nature of lyric compofi- 
tion, for variety is one . the greater ornaments, if not effen- 
tials, of the ode.’ octry.) “ The 77th 
pfalm 
concerning the nature and economy of the ode. 
his pfalm is compofed in what I call the iments ftyle, 
and is ’ that diverfified and unequal kind, irae _afcends 
from a cool and temperate exordium, to a e of 
fublimity. ? ‘On the other hand, the s9th pl is compel 
BREW 
will afford foms ‘lluftration of what has been seg ie moder 
ebre 
upon a different plan ; for it declines gradually from an 
exordium uncommonly {plendid and fublime, to a gentler and 
more moderate ftrain, to the fofteft expreffions of piety and 
devotion. The whole isis ae abounds wi ith great va- 
riety, both of fentiment and imagery.” 
the fublimity which is charatteriftic of a third fpe- 
=i of the Hebrew ode, and which refults either from the 
pia 
° 
~* 
> 
oO 
= 
ion, we have 
compofed after 
pfa eci 
derives fublimity from feveral ae Sacer from = dic- 
tion, the fentiments, the form conduét of the y and 
which accumulate 
al 
the triumphal ode 
(ch. iti.), and the langle fong of the Ifraelites on the 
deftruction of Babylon (Ifaiah, xiv, 
« Allodes,” fays e Blair, ** may be comprifed under 
four denominations. 1, Sacred o reffed to 
God, or compofed on : religions fubjects. 
are the Pfalms of David, which exhibit to us this fpecies 
of lyric poetry in its higheft degree of perfeCtion. 2. He- 
roic odes, which are employed in the praife of heroes, and in 
the celebration of martial age and great a 
e 
Thefe two kinds ought to have flim ity a 
i Moral and philofophical odes, 
ired y virtue, a 
e a: lyric produétions ; ; 
aid here the ode poffeffes that middle region which it fome- 
times occupies. flive and ins ae calculated 
merely for ’ pleafure and amufemen nature are al 
Anacreon’s ; fome of Horace’s ; “and a gr ae number of 
e ila WoL ii. 
n the Modern Poetry, is a lyric poem, confifting 
of ton co ort ee diftinguifhed ito ftanzas, or 
aes eho the fame meafure is preferved thrcugh- 
t. 
The ancient ode had originally but one ‘tanza, or ftrophe ; 
but was at laft divided into three parts; /frophe, anti iprrophe,, 
S| 
verfe, and the fam 
will - a different fong. 
however, that all the ancient 
But ‘he proceeds: “ The 
moderns have no regard to the natural quantity of the fyl- 
lables, and have introduced an unnatural and barbarous va- 
riet 
