Short Statement on Poetics--#4
Posted: April 16th, 2008, 12:38 pm
What is poetry if not Word Music?
Words represent ideas but the words themselves are solid objects because they each have a Sound.
When we see a whole note written on a music staff, it means something, it describes pitch and duration but it doesn't have the same impact as when we hear the note played into the air. At that point it becomes a tangible thing and not just an idea. The little hairs inside your ears actually feel the vibration, they touch the note.
This same thing is true of words. They have more impact when they are heard from the air. They become tactile objects.
How a poem sounds is as important as what it means.
This is why nonsense rhyme works. It means nothing but we all remember slithey toves, the bandersnatch and ob-la-di-ob-la-da.
Final test of a poem---how does it SOUND?
Words represent ideas but the words themselves are solid objects because they each have a Sound.
When we see a whole note written on a music staff, it means something, it describes pitch and duration but it doesn't have the same impact as when we hear the note played into the air. At that point it becomes a tangible thing and not just an idea. The little hairs inside your ears actually feel the vibration, they touch the note.
This same thing is true of words. They have more impact when they are heard from the air. They become tactile objects.
How a poem sounds is as important as what it means.
This is why nonsense rhyme works. It means nothing but we all remember slithey toves, the bandersnatch and ob-la-di-ob-la-da.
Final test of a poem---how does it SOUND?