Ode number 6 from the First Book of Odes was written in 1927. The manner of its delivery is of particular interest. The rancher twirls his rope before lassoing the target. The title, which draws us to a lonely-hearts column, flags up the modernity of the piece and the writing is a good example of Bunting's colloquial manner. Notwithstanding its knockabout and self-deprecating brio there's candour in its declaration. We have seen examples of the poet's allusive poetic and this approach needs to be put alongside Bunting's more direct way of writing. From the early poems onwards we can see how the poet employs an opaque, recondite manner but can also push through with a sharper line of attack, sometimes creating a poetry of statement. The juxtaposition of Bunting's ‘literar/ voice and his more ‘personal’ voice can be traced from the early work in the 1920s up until Ode 12 (CP 146) from the Second Book of Odes, which he wrote towards the end of his life. Ode 6 - or ‘Personal Column’ - would appear to come from the school of hard knocks, yet the transaction between recorded experience and literary creation is necessarily complicated. The short piece also enjoys a ‘buttoned-up’ quality, adhering to the modernist notion of impersonality, yet it also bears the wounds of experience; ‘you can't write about anything unless you've experienced it; you're either confused in your subject matter or else you get it all wrong’ (PBB 107).

The vulnerability of the heart is a traditional poetic subject and the odes, from both the First Book (1924-49) and the Second Book (1964-80), confirm that Bunting was a poet of lyrical gifts. The poet describes his odes as sonnets to be sung and it is worth noting the form's choral tradition. Derived from the Greek word aoiden, the ode was ‘originally a poem intended or adapted to be sung to instrumental accompaniment’ (PBB 83).