The Ode

 

 

An ode is a poem that is addressed to something. That is to say, the poem speaks directly to an object such as a Grecian urn or a nightingale, an idea such as freedom or melancholy, or an event such as a great wind. The original ancient odes were written in Greece, delivered by a chorus singing and performing an elaborate dance.

Odes are usually written in the second person. When we use the second person today we use the words you and your.
Many great odes from the past used words such as thou, thee, thy, thine instead of the modern you and your.
This isn't just because the poems were written in the past. They used this special language in their odes to suggest the grandeur and importance of the things they were writing about.

This is the opening of Shelley's Ode to a Skylark.
Replace any old-fashioned words with modern choices.

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!
Bird thou never wert,
That from Heaven, or near it,
Pourest thy full heart
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

Higher still and higher
From the earth thou springest
Like a cloud of fire:
The blue deep thou wingest,
And singing dost soar, and soaring ever singest.

Read out your version, then the original.
Decide which you prefer and why.