In 'Odes,' Sharon Olds masterfully captures the nuances of love, family, and the human experience through a series of lyrical tributes. Each poem serves as a heartfelt homage to the ordinary and extraordinary moments that shape our lives, from the tender to the tumultuous. Olds's evocative language invites readers to explore the beauty and complexity of emotional connections. As she celebrates both joy and sorrow, you’ll find yourself reflecting on your own relationships and experiences. Prepare to be moved by Olds's profound insights that linger long after the last page.
By Sharon Olds
Published: 2016
""The body is a house of the spirit; it shelters the depths of joy and pain, revealing the raw beauty of love in every scar and whisper.""
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • An intimate collection of poems that “picks up where Stag’s Leap left off, which is to say that it contains some of the best and most ingenious poems of her career.” —The New York Times Opening with the powerful and tender “Ode to the Hymen,” Sharon Olds addresses and embodies, in this age-old poetic form, many aspects of love and gender and sexual politics in a collection that is centered on the body and its structures and pleasures. The poems extend parts of her narrative as a daughter, mother, wife, lover, friend, and poet of conscience that will be familiar from earlier collections, each episode and memory burnished by the wisdom and grace and humor of looking back. In such poems as “Ode to My Sister,” “Ode of Broken Loyalty,” “Ode to My Whiteness,” “Blow Job Ode,” and “Ode to the Last Thirty-Eight Trees in New York City Visible from This Window,” Olds treats us to an intimate examination that, like all her work, is universal, by turns searing and charming in its honesty. From the bodily joys and sorrows of childhood to the deaths of those dearest to us, Olds shapes the world in language that is startlingly fresh, profound in its conclusions, and life-giving for the reader.
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“"The body is a house of the spirit; it shelters the depths of joy and pain, revealing the raw beauty of love in every scar and whisper."”
Odes
By Sharon Olds
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Sharon Olds is an acclaimed American poet known for her candid and confessional writing style that intimately explores themes of family, relationships, and the human body. Born on November 19, 1942, in San Francisco, California, Olds gained recognition with the publication of her first collection, "Fallen Angels," in 1980. Her subsequent works, including "The Dead and the Living" (1984), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award, and "Stag's Leap" (2012), which received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, further cemented her reputation as a leading voice in contemporary poetry. Olds' poetry is characterized by its emotional depth, vivid imagery, and musicality, often drawing from her personal experiences and family history. She continues to inspire readers and writers alike with her fearless exploration of personal and universal themes.
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