Song Lyrics and Poetry: Are Both Genuinely Worthy of a Canvas and Brush? “I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of beauty,” says the literarily influential Edgar Allan Poe. Poetry has been a form of literature for thousands of years, and has evolved with the passage of time to remain a respected form of literary art. And this evolving has brought about numerous subdivisions of poetry in the methods used to create, write, and even perform poems. Although, one of the most controversial inducing forms of writing is song lyrics, with the quarrel being produced from the thought as to whether or not song lyrics can be considered to the title of poetry. Without a doubt, poetry and song lyrics are both particular …show more content…
To explain, take the consonance within the following line of Angelou, “Just like moons and suns, / With the certainty of tides” (Angelou 9-10). In these lines, Angelou uses the stressed ‘s’ sound at the end of certain words. This stylistic choice motivates the audience to read the poem with a certain pulse, as well as to do so while paying attention to significant words or word choice. This method is used numerous times throughout her poem as a whole. Similarly, examples of consonance may also located within Schwartz’s “Defying Gravity.” For instance, “But till I try I’ll never know / Too long I’ve been afraid of / Losing love, I guess I’ve lost” (Schwartz 39-41). Noting the repetitive ‘t’ sound at the beginning of words in line 39, and also the repetitive ‘l’ sound in line 41, it becomes clear that Schwartz also utilizes the strategy of consonance throughout his song similar to that of Angelou’s approach within her poem. Given these points, it becomes clear that poetic devices pertaining to words and rhythm can be implemented into both poetry and song lyrics, another justification of poetry and song lyrics being both artistically
Poetry is its own solid object” (Bad Poem, Great Song). To some, the dilemma is cut and dry, songs just can’t be poetry.
The alliteration used is to emphasize rhythm in the poem. On the other hand, the poet also depicts a certain rhyme scheme across each stanza. For example, the first stanza has a rhyme scheme of this manner a, b, c, d, e, a. With this, the rhyme scheme depicted is an irregular manner. Hence, the poem does not have a regular rhythm. Moreover, the poet uses a specific deign of consonance, which is present in the poem (Ahmed & Ayesha, p. 11). The poet also uses the assonance style depicted in the seventh stanza, “Seven whole days I have not seen my beloved.” The letter ‘o’ has been repeated to create rhythm and to show despair in the poem. On the second last line of the seventh stanza, the poet uses the style of consonance, “If I hug her, she’ll drive illness from me. By this, the letter ‘l’ is repeated across the line. The poet’s aim of using this style of Consonance is to establish rhythm in the poem and add aural
Poetry and music both connections amongst each other, that make each other almost identical. Musicians use poetry to write their songs and sometimes write a poetic song first without the lyrics, then add music in it to finalize the song. Both are two different but the same style of literature. The poem “Promises like Pie-Crust” has two versions to it, the poem itself and the song version, but both are almost identical.
“Poems differ as much as the people who write and read them, or as much as music and movies do” (Mays 846). Poems are the most difficult form of writing to analyze because they can be interpreted differently. Poems are composed of figurative language. Many times poems can be overanalyzed or not analyzed enough which could lead one to obtain an idea out of the poem that the writer never intended to provide.
Figurative Language in used throughout poems so the reader can develop a further understanding of the text. In “The Journey” the author uses rhythm and metaphors throughout the poem. “...as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of the clouds..”(25-27). The author compares the star burning to finding your voice. Rhythm also develops the theme of the poem because throughout the story rhythm is presented as happy showing growing up and changing for the better is necessary and cheerful. In “The Laughing Heart” the author uses imagery and metaphors to develop the theme throughout the book. “There is a light somewhere. It may not be much light but it beats the darkness”(5-7). Always find the good out of everything, even it
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”
Song lyrics have set off a great generation of our leisure time than reading poetic devices, therefore song lyrics are better than poetic devices. Song lyrics have dropped numerous lines that attach to us now a days and make us listen to the line over and over unlike poetic devices. Song Lyrics have so much meaning by word choice and by relations.”Mr. Rager” by Kid Cudi, is about people fed up with society and plan on taking a journey. “Dreams” by Edgar Allen Poe, is about a man who dreams of a greater life. Mr. Rager, the song by Scott Cudi, has a better meaning than Dreaming, the poem by Edgar Allen Poe, by personification, allusion, and symbolism.
For example, the metaphor; “Every breaths a gift, the first one to the last” (28). The use of this metaphor is to treat every day and breathing moment of your life as a gift. Therefore, your life should not be taken for granted and it is precious. Another poetic device is this lyric, “I believe that days go slow and years go fast” (27), this line is a form of paradox. This form of poetry is used to explain how the long days contradict the fast years and to cherish them. Life goes by in the blink of an eye, and it could have been wasted by regret, not making amends with people once trusted (forgiveness), and holding resentment. In addition, assonance is used frequently, for example, “I believe most people are good” (7) uses o’s is to elongate the sentence and create a slurred, calm feeling when the chorus is sung. Euphony is used in the lyric; “I believe them streets of gold are worth the work” (14), which creates a harmonious tone. The similar words “worth and work” sound the same so the sentence flows better together creating harmony. Finally, there is rhyming in most of the verses’, one of the examples is; “I believe we gotta forgive and make amends” (3), with “ ‘Cause nobody gets a second chance to make new old friends” (4). The rhyming of “amends and friends” aide the verse to become catchy which helps listeners enjoy the
In todays society poetry is all around us, we use it in music to deliver messages to the average radio listener. According to SelectUSA (The creative Media industry in the United States) The United States music industry in 2011 reached 15.2 billion dollars. With the information given a person can tell that a lot of time and money goes into music in today’s society. The music people listen to have many different elements that an average listener would not pick up. Many songs have poetic techniques that give great meaning to the song that makes the song unique. The song I Love the way you Lie by Eminem and Rihanna and the song Airplanes by B.o.B are similar in ways they use poetic devises and how the over all message of the two songs can relate to the average person that listen to the song.
The first stanza describes the depth of despair that the speaker is feeling, without further explanation on its causes. The short length of the lines add a sense of incompleteness and hesitance the speaker feels towards his/ her emotions. This is successful in sparking the interest of the readers, as it makes the readers wonder about the events that lead to these emotions. The second and third stanza describe the agony the speaker is in, and the long lines work to add a sense of longing and the outpouring emotion the speaker is struggling with. The last stanza, again structured with short lines, finally reveals the speaker 's innermost desire to "make love" to the person the speaker is in love
The point of consonance is to emphasize words by making the reader to pause and ruminate about what they are reading. To illustrate this concept, line 1-2 states “At midnight, in the month of June, / I stand beneath the mystic moon.” In these lines, the words month and beneath have main vowels that are different; however, they both share the ending of –th. Furthermore, a similar case can be found on line 7, “Steals drowsily and musically.” Just like the previous stanza, the words share a common ending but differ when it comes to their main vowels—the words drowsily and musically are
Poetry can be easily separated from other pieces of literature. Often when I think of poetry I think of someone expressing themselves in a particularly imaginative way. Even though prose may also be writing which expresses itself, it is written down in a totally different manner. “Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock” by Wallace Stevens and “The Lamb” by William Blake are two poems which contain key attributes such as symbolism, imagery, rhyme, and rhythm which are part of what differentiates a poem from other works of literature.
No two poems are ever exactly the same. This can be shown in two of Emily Dickinson’s poems “Hope” is the Thing with Feathers and Because I could not stop for Death. If you take these two poems and compare them you will find some similarities, but overall there are a lot more differences that set them apart. She may stick to writing about topics she knows like life, nature, love, death, and religion but she makes sure that the detail in each one is different and unique. In “Hope” is the Thing with Feathers and Because I could not stop for Death there are difference in the speaker, theme, and imagery used throughout the poems.
I believe that songs can be considered a form of modern day poetry as they often effectively use poetic techniques such as repetition, imagery, contrasting themes, effective word choice and climaxes. The two songs that I have discussed clearly possess and demonstrate these qualities and how effective they are.
In most songs sang by Elvis Presley, he uses similes and repetition as a connotation. For example, “Like a river flows,” is comparing his love to a river. “Take my whole life, too”, is kind of like symbolism because he is saying spend life with me. Elvis also uses repetition to show how much he cares about the girl. “I can’t help falling in love with you,” is an example of repetition. He wants her to know he would die for her! This lyrical poem is set up with three stanzas and twenty-two lines in all. After the first stanza, it adds a line each stanza. The first stanza starts with six lines, stanza two has seven, and stanza three has eight lines.