Poetry Lesson09 -- Is this a Poem or a Song? FREE POETRY COURSE FROM CUPIDEROSBOOKS.COM

POETRY LESSON 09:

POETRY WRITING CLASSES

IS THIS A POEM OR A SONG?

* POETRY: HARDER TO WRITE THAN SONGS

* SONGS: ARE A FORM OF POETRY

* SONGS: MAKE MORE MONEY

You've probably thought. Why can't I just sing my poem? I'd make a lot more money!

A huge difference exist between poems and songs, although they are cousins. You could think of these two as poor and rich cousins. But in reality both are rich in their own right.

* POETRY: HARDER TO WRITE THAN SONGS

Poems are rich in content and thought. You can put a novel inside a poem. You'd have to write a thousand songs to get a novel.

Poems are harder because you do not use readily accessible language.

"I love you," is enough for a song. In poetry, we need to know more than the clicheness of your love. Poem words can't be sung without extra creativity. Possibilities works in a poem, but try singing it. Difficult?

Poems are meant for the brain, mind and thinking. Songs are meant for the heart. It is much harder to reach the brain than the heart.

Poems in Heaven

If poems reside in Heaven,

And prose on mountaintops,

Then songs lay at the mountains base;

But great words form them all.

Was that a poem or a song? A poem can be a song. It's rare though. All the above words are singable. The concept is readily understood. Rhythm and music flows from Poems in Heaven. This might serve as a refrain in a song. Songs are longer.

* SONGS: ARE A FORM OF POETRY

Sometimes a poet writes a poem quickly and it flows like a song. But what to do about this?

Well the person can turn it into a song. The person can convert it back into a poem but adding depth and less familiar wording. Take the poem I wrote before.

Rosy Cloud Poem

My love is blue unlike the rose.

(opening line, topic)

It doesn't bloom and spread

It's wings. It doesn't soar

High in the sky. So why, O why

(Peak of the poem)

Should I follow the clouds,

Hoping for lofty, flowers to

(Resignation to loss)

Touch the ground. My love

Floats away out of reach--

(Pinning what could have been)

Unlike the red, red rose I seek.

(ending poem and thoughts)

* SONGS: MAKE MORE MONEY

Songs make way more money because billions of people instantly understand them. If you keep writing songs or song snippets, my suggestion: group them in one place. Then go back pool them together and write a proper song!

* FASTEST WAY TO LEARN SONG STRUCTURE

Read songs lyrics. I think this is faster than listening because one may or may not hear the correct words while the background drums are banging. I list several links under my links tab above.

Reading lyrics provides a visual advantage to song construction/structure. A poem usually two refrains. Four to six verses. Perhaps one tag or bridge. You have about 12 to 18 lines for a song. A poem can be 36 lines or even 100 lines in an epic. Long ago long poems were sung. For more, below find two great books on how to write songs.