This dissertation explores the use of the solemn ode of the 18th century in the work of four major 20th-century poets: Mandelstam, Pasternak, Tsvetaeva, and Mayakovsky.

In opposition to generally-accepted critical opinion which sees the ode as a lyric genre, this dissertation attempts to demonstrate the Russian ode' s epic nature, which is seen as the root of its importance for each of the above-mentioned poets. At the base of the odic mentality is a turn from the lyric "I" to a depersonified "we". Using examples taken from the odic poetry of four major 20th century poets, the dissertation tries to demonstrate how each poet moved from "I" to "we" in order to resurrect the epic qualities that bad been characteristic of 18th century odic poetry. lf, in the 18th century, the ode realized its epic potential by summing up the entire world as seen by poets such as Lomonosov and Derzhavin, in our century the ode turned into what might be called an echo genre, reduced to a series of devices, which nevertheless strive to encompass that whole world which is the goal of true epic poetry.