The Harmony Of Words And Sound: A Guide To Understanding The Connection Between Poetry And Music

Introduction

Poet Vs. lyricist

^{Music Source: iStock}

Are Poets and lyricists different? Lyricists write songs which are no lesser to poetry. Songs are poetry by itself. A lyricist too, like a poet brainstorm words that too very selective one. Rhyme plays an important role in the musicality of a poem. The intonations used and the stress given to each word in a poem or a song defines the musical element present there. Right intonation gives you ups and downs in the tone of the poem. But meaning also plays an important role in a poem. A poem cannot be blunt without any rhymes and musical elements. What makes a poetry musical is the words the poet chooses and how creatively it is inserted in between the verses.

What makes a poem musical?

Lyric poems are musical and there are also songs. For example a rap has rhyming words. It has a rhythm, rhyme and alliteration. There are some poets who does not follow all these traditional norms. But still a poem remains musical as the poem has its own rhythm.

In a poem rhyme not only occurs at the end but it happens to be in the middle of the poem too. Those are called middle rhymes. To be simple, a rhyme can be defined as an echoing of the poem. For a satisfaction, for the poet as well as for the readers and for a recreational look, rhymes are used in poems. That too, rhymes those occur at the end alone has some effects while reading. Internal rhymes too, contribute the same effect but not up to that extent.

^{Poetry and Pencil Source: The Elephant}

Sound factors of poetry

Stanza plays an important role in a poem. The number of stanzas will be directly affecting the tone of the poetry and it contributes to the sound factors of the poem. The form of the poetry also decides the sound factor. Each poetic form is named separately and each one is unique. Rhythm and meter gives an extra effect in the sound quality of the poem. Meter adds a musical quality to a poem. The words that rhyme follow a pattern and it is known to be rhyme scheme. How well a lyric poem is written is decided by the rhymes used. Then comes the blank verse and free verse which also gives sound to the poetry.

The accent and the syllables used in the poem also contributes a great part in the rhyming sense of a poem. Words alone just don't rhyme when a loet thinks of writing a piece of poem. It's their very own thoughts that jump in their minds and that itself can be attributed indirectly to the sound factors of the poem.

^{Musical Components Of a poem Source: The College View}

Prose is also poetry. How?

A poem is not only decided by the sound factors and the figures of speech used. Even an irregular poem is poetry and the poetic quality of a poem is decided by whatever is being written in the form of poetry. Critics easily judge a poetic work and without any second thought they work on criticizing the other poets who failed to fulfill certain criteria in which the critics failed to find it appealing in his poetic work.

A prose is also a poetry, but poetry is not versified and that's the only difference. Words and the best combination of those makes the poetry more and more, an exciting genre in literature.

Figures of speech implied

Poets play with words and rhymes in a writing process. Cummings' poetry may be quoted as an example when it comes to the word play of the poet. The stress, pitch and the attitude used in a poem clearly gives a definition of what is poetry and the impact and importance of sound in it. Early 16th century poets were very much conscious in choosing catchy rhythmic words in their poems. Bacon held a great role in the world of assonance and consonance.

Tone also makes a poem musical. In fact, the tone is an attitude shown towards the subject in which the poem is written. The figurative use of the language by the poet is the major contribution to the sounding factors of a poem.

^{Writing and the figures of speech Source: University Of York}

Conclusion

A Poem, with or without rhymes, Sibilance and alliteration is still a poem. A poetic genius lies in the formation while the sound factors too contribute a control over the poem. Whenever a poet is ready for a poem, he/she would look for emotions first and then comes words. When words become a second priority, rhymings and repetitive sounds never becomes a concern for a poet and his works will not be biased just because of the word choice he has to follow every time while writing poetry.