- Palinode
[
Geoffrey Chaucer was an exponent of the palinode]A palinode or palinody is an
ode in which the writer retracts aview orsentiment expressed in an earlierpoem . The first recorded use of a palinode is in a poem byStesichorus in the 7th century BC. Here he retracts his earlier statement that theTrojan War was all the fault ofHelen .The word comes from the Greek παλιν ("palin", meaning 'again') and ωδη ("song"); the Latin equivalent "
recantation " is an exactcalque ("re-" meaning 'again' and "cant-" meaning 'sing').It can also be a recantation of a
defamatory statement inScots Law .Examples
Chaucer's Retraction is one example of a palinode.Late in his life,
Gelett Burgess wrote this of his famous "Purple Cow"::Ah, yes! I wrote the "purple cow",:I’m sorry now I wrote it!:But I can tell you anyhow,:I’ll kill you if you quote it!
Ogden Nash wrote a palinode in retaliation to his most famous poem about the dandiness ofcandy , and quickness ofliquor ::Nothing makes me sicker:than liquor:and candy:is too expandy
Palinodes have also been created by many
medieval writers such as Augustine,Bede ,Giraldus Cambrensis ,Jean de Meun and others.
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