Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Poetry and Song 5

The point I have been exploring about the intimate relationship between poetry and song is neither new nor original. Though the examples I have used have been from East Asia (Tanka in Japan and the Quatrain forms from China), the same applies to western poetry. Epic poetry, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, were originally sung. The Sonnet form began as a short Italian song, the Sonnetto.

Underlying the meter, rhythm, and pulse of poetry is the rhythmic beat of song.

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