JUMP TO THE ODES/PRAISE POEMS / Updated September 2025
Whether sincere or ironic, written for the common or extraordinary, the pretty or the strange, odes are poems of celebration and close attention.
While there are classical types of odes (as noted in Writer’s Digest), I’m most enamored with less formal odes, which can be in any style. As Writers.com says, “Technically, an ode isn’t a singular poetry form: it can take the shape of a sonnet, a ghazal, a villanelle, an elegy, or (most contemporarily) a free verse poem. What unifies each ode is the desire to celebrate the minute and mundane: to praise the little beauties in life.”
So if an ode or praise poem can be anything, what’s their magic? “Focusing the poetic lens to dissect, understand, and communicate the beauty and mystery of life.” (That’s Writers.com again.) For me, much of that “beauty and mystery” can be found in odes’ ability to go deep, deep down into the good, bad and ugly while still holding the spirit of appreciation or homage.
Writing for the University of Arizona Poetry Center, Stacey Balkun describes it this way: “I’ve been drawn to the ode because this world needs some celebration in it, and yes, there is much to celebrate. But even more interesting is the intersection between the light and dark, and contemporary poets are using the ode’s form to explore that space.” Balkun crystallizes this even further when she says odes “imbue praise with complexity,” which 100% explains my attraction to them.
That vibration between praise and complexity gives odes and praise poems an abundance of energy and tension and makes the style terrific for poems of witness. In a description for a class on writing the ode, Brooklyn Poets expounds on this communal and political role: “The praise poem, in light of recent global atrocities, is perhaps more necessary than ever before. … The power of praise poems [is how they help us] heal and bear witness in this present moment.”
So let’s see what the ode can do! Check out this personally curated list, sorted alphabetically by poet’s last name. 👇
Examples of odes and praise poems
- “Praise” by Kelli Russell Agodon
- “Ode to Fat” by Ellen Bass
- “Ode to Northern Alberta” by Billy-Ray Belcourt
- “For everyone who tried on the slipper before Cinderella” by Ariana Brown
- “For the turkey buzzards” by Sarah Browning
- “Ode to Kody” by M. Soledad Caballero
- “Ode to the other woman” by Emily R. Daniel
- “Ode to the Immortal Jellyfish” by Ja’net Danielo
- “Ode to Money, or Patient Appealing Health Insurance for Denial of Coverage” by Katie Farris
- “Ode to My Brother” by Sarah Freligh
- “Ode to Unmown Grass” by Violeta Garcia-Mendoza
- “Praise For My Mother” by Wendy Grossman
- “Ode to Barbed Wire” by Jared Harél
- “Bloody Mary Ode” by Caroline Hockenbury
- “In Praise of Minor” by Abbie Kiefer
- “Pencil Sharpener” by Veronica Kornberg
- “Kitchen Gadgets” by Elizabeth Lara
- “Hot Soup” by Parker Logan
- “Ode to a White Cloud” by Natalie Marino
- “Nevertheless: An Ecstatic Ode” by Airea D. Matthews
- “Ode to the Grimy Breeze of an Underground Subway Platform” by Abby E. Murray
- “Praise the ones who loved us best they could” by Deirdre O’Connor
- “Ode To Loss” by Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí
- “Clit Ode” by January Gill O’Neil
- “Denim Ode” by Shaina Phenix
- “Ode to the Nectarine” by Jeremy Radin
- “Ode to Em Dash” by Vismai Rao
- “[Oye! This is an apartment building ode.]” by Dimitri Reyes
- “Ode To The Necessary Distance Between Us: A Contrapuntal” by Peggy Robles-Alvarado
- “Praise Poem in the Key of Diaspora” by Terisa Siagatonu
- “Ode to Autocorrect” by Martha Silano
- “Perennials” by Maggie Smith
- “Ode to a Dolly Parton Drag Queen” by Bruce Snider
- “Ode to the Boy Who Jumped Me” by Monica Sok
- “Ode to Goby” by Juliana Spahr
- “Ode to Poppers” by Sappho Stanley
- “Ode to Tissue” by Adam Tavel
- “ode to that little ceramic reindeer my mother painted green & red” by Millie Tullis
- “For Girls Who Run Through Storms like Buffalos, Knowing It’s the Quickest Way Through” by Tanaya Winder
- “Ode to the Hotel Near the Children’s Hospital” by Kevin Young
- “Try to Praise the Mutilated World” by Adam Zagajewski
I’m happy to continue adding to this collection of odes and praise poems. Got a fave that I’ve missed? Let me know, and I’ll take a look. Also, be sure to check out other popular lists published at this blog: