Sound is perhaps the strongest reason why I love poetry. I've talked about this before, and I'm not going to repeat myself now, other than stating the fact that I just watched the marvellous movie called August Rush, so music is on my brain. After our discussion of prose poems today, I kept thinking about why I liked them so much. They are such a unique form, and I have realized that you either love or hate them, as you could tell from the polarization of our class discussion. I loved how they embraced the quality of a narrative while still maintaining unique sounds in order to be classified as a poem. Now, I know it was refuted that even narrative poems have stanza structure applied to them, so why can't this form have some sort of structure as well? I think that the prose poem often looks like a block on the page because that is how the author wanted the thoughts to be heard. They are a lot more like thoughts when they are blurted out on a page, exposed to the reader exactly how they were envisioned, and this block creates unique opportunities for sound as well. In the final scene of August Rush, August performs his Rhapsody, which actually reminded me of a prose poem. It is a lengthy song, and sounds arbitrarily thrown together, but, in reality, each note was placed in the perfect position to tell the story. There is build-up, background noise, a fall, and a grand finale. This is just like a poem in many ways, and this is the best correlation that I can draw to illustrate just why I love this form and think that it is the most useful one that we have studied so far. Below is the cd version of August's Rhapsody, if you are interested in hearing what a prose poem sounds like in musical form.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I love August Rush! And I agree with you as far as the relationship between music and poetry. I suppose, as a musician, that's a reason I love poetry so much as well. Thanks for demonstrating the correlation between the two!
ReplyDeleteVery well stated. I'm a freak when it comes to words and form. The shape the words take as the line up across the page effects me to the same extent as the internal message. Actually, that's how I judge a poem; words and form must work together as an intricate team. If they don't, I feel nothing has been accomplished. You stated my feelings exactly, and I thank you for giving me the words.
ReplyDeleteI also like the connection between you make between music in poetry. I never heard August rush before so I must say listening to this opened me up to some new things. Love how you said that you believed that a prose poem was like a block. because the author wanted the poem to be heard. This is what makes a prose poem, poetic.
ReplyDeleteWow, nice link between the two. Good interpretation and I agree with you 100%. The song that he played definitely resembles a prose in length and flow creating a beautiful harmony. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!
Thanks for this post.