Since I've spent three years off and on working on a translation of the Paschal Canon by St. John of Damascus, I'm going to post some observations here as a thread

First off, the Canon as a hymnographic genre is the most important genre of hymnography in the Orthodox Church. Also, the intricacy is sublime (when done well - there are many poorly written canons)

The Canon is linked with the biblical canticles that you find in the back of the Orthodox Psalter, those Canticles, totaling nine, are themed after old testament events, except for the 9th Ode, which is the Magnificat of Mary found in the Book of Luke. The other themes are:

Canticle 1 - The Song of Moses in the Exodus - Exodus 15
Canticle 2 - The Song of Moses in Deuteronomy (Deut. 32)
Canticle 3 - The Prayer of Hannah, the Mother of Samuel the Prophet (A barren woman gives strange birth and thus honors God)
Canticle 4 - The prayer of Habbakuk

Canticle 5 - The prayer of the Prophet Isaiah
Canticle 6 - The prayer of the Prophet Jonah
Canticle 7 - The Prayer of the Three Holy Youths
Canticle 8 - The Hymn of the Three Holy Youths
Canticle 9 - The song of the Mother of God

Canons mirror this, canons can be comprised of 2,3,4,8 or 9 Odes - for example the Lenten Triodion gets its name from the fact that the Canons of Lent are 3 Odes - Tri-Odes, thus the Book of the Three Odes - Tri-Odi-on

And what makes Canons so intricate and incredible is that a well-composed canon ties in the original biblical canticle to the commemoration of the Canon itself, and they correspond to the Canticle. So Ode 1 in Canons link to the story of Exodus 15 in some way

Specifically related to the Paschal Canon (The Canon of Easter), St. John of Damascus does this so masterfully, it is rather breathtaking and beautiful. Masterful.

The first ode heirmos: This is the day of Resurrection, let us
peoples shine forth, * Pascha the Lord’s own Pascha; for Christ our God has led us forth, * out of death and into life, to heaven from earth, * and so we give praise to Him * as we sing a triumphal song.

The opening line is a direct quote from the homily of St. Gregory the Theology - it should be noted that John's stepbrother and fellow monk at Mar Sabba, Cosmas the Hymnographer, does the same exact thing for the Christmas Canon - Christ is born, glorify Him! is from Gregory too

but then: 'for Christ our God has led us forth out of death and into life, to heaven from earth" is a direct reference to just as Moses led Israel out of bondage and into the promised land, Christ has done with us by His rising from the dead.

But then, he also ends the ode with "and so we give praise to Him as we sing a triumphal song", which is a reference to the opening incipit of Canticle I: Moses says: To the Lord let us sing, for he is greatly glorified.

So, in just the heirmos you get 1) a quotation of the homily of Gregory the Theologian 2) a layered theological reflection of the prophetic connection of Moses leading Israel out of bondage and the Resurrection of Christ and 3) a direct reference to the Song of Moses

But keep in mind, on top of all of this, it's sung! In Anglophone Orthodoxy, there can be such an emphasis on the meditative, rational contemplative side of Orthodoxy, which certainly exists, but this is not that. This is not a writing of a church father to read in solitude

So many translations focus strictly on meaning, and literal at that. But John didn't write these for that, they're songs, sung to a specific metrical pattern and thus a specific, repeating melody, which is how canons work. This concept is not foreign to anglophone musical

sensibilities, think of something like "Amazing Grace", which has several verses, and they are sung to the exact melody of Amazing Grace, which can be done because the text of the following verses fit the meter of "Amazing Grace". This is how canons work

But so many translators and translations ignore this, disregarding meter for 'meaning'. Translating strictly to meaning without concern for the metrical patterns and melodies of the Heirmoi ignores the reality that the faithful encounter this wonderful poetic exegesis

in triumphant song during liturgy with their candles lit, providing the light of the Resurrection to the world in the dead of night, not as a theological treatise to quietly contemplate in metaphysical meditation while in solitude.

So, on top of the literary marvel of what John composed, it's also musical, a literal song of triumph that is sung in the 1st Mode, the mode of both the Canons of Pascha and Christmas, a triumphant, almost marshal mode that is sometimes called the "Doric Mode"

which is a reference to the Dorians, i.e. the Spartans, which even in 700 AD in the Levant, were remembered for their military prowess still. Anyways, this is all just in reference to the first Heirmos of the First Ode, there are a total of 27 troparia over 8 Odes like this