palinode

English

Etymology

From Middle French palinod, from Latin palinōdia (“palinode, recantation”), from Ancient Greek παλινῳδία (palinōidía, “palinode”), from πάλιν (pálin, “again”) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpælɪnəʊd/

Noun

palinode (plural palinodes)

1. An ode or other poem in which the author retracts something said in an earlier poem; (loosely) a recantation. [from 17th c.]
   • 1814, Sir Walter Scott, Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since:

     ... Balmawhapple could not, by the code of honour, evite giving satisfaction to ... Edward by such a palinode as rendered the use of the sword unnecessary, and which, being made and accepted, must necessarily sopite the whole affair.

   • 2004, Jaspitos, "I Take It Back", in The Spectator (London, UK); Jan 24, 2004.

     The more lighthearted palinodes were more successful, such as Geoff Horton's recantation of his youthful view that a martini should be shaken rather than stirred.

   • 2008, William McCarthy, Anna Letitia Barbauld: Voice of the Enlightenment, Johns Hopkins University Press, published 2015, page 339:

     The close of Sins is as sober as the close of her Address to the Opposers was enthusiastic; it is almost a palinode.

Translations

poem that contradicts an earlier poem

• French: palinodie (fr) f