W&M ScholarWorks Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 5-2009 Wordsworth and the Odic Tradition Lindsay Gail Gibson College of William and Mary Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses Recommended Citation Gibson, Lindsay Gail, "Wordsworth and the Odic Tradition" (2009). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 250. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/250 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Wordsworth and the Odic Tradition A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English from The College of William and Mary by Lindsay Gail Gibson Accepted for Highest Honors ________________________________________ Adam Potkay , Director ________________________________________ Kim Wheatley ________________________________________ Henry Hart ________________________________________ William Hutton Williamsburg, VA April 29, 2009 Table of Contents I. The English Pindaric Ode…………………………………………………..…….p. 4 II. Wordsworth and Horace…………………………………………………..……..p. 8 III. “Tintern Abbey”………………...……….…………………………..……..…...p. 12 IV. The Immortality Ode………………………………………………..……….….p. 30 V. Conclusions………………………………………………….………………..….p. 46 Appendices “Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey”………………………….….….p. 50 “Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Reflections of Early Childhood”..................p. 54 Works Cited………………………………………………………………………….p. 60 1 “Best is water,” writes Pindar in the opening line of his First Olympian Ode, “but there is another—gold, shining fire-like” 1 (ll. 1-2, Loeb, p. 47). This line, written to commemorate the victory of Hieron of Syracuse at the Olympic horse-races in 476 B.C., demonstrates many of the Pindaric characteristics that would later influence the ode’s development.