Lyric Analysis

Choice number two.


I had a lot of trouble deciding on which of my favourite songs to analyse, but I finally decided upon "Heaven (Little by Little)" by Theory of a Deadman.

Song lyrics:


Now don't you be afraid,
We can always talk about it.
No need to medicate
'Cause I know you're strong without it.
You got me through the days
When I thought I couldn't face it.
Let me count the ways
The love we have you can't replace it


Just hold on,
I'm not that strong.


There's a little piece of heaven
Right here where you are.
The fact that you keep trying
Is what sets you apart.
Help me find the reason
And I'll help you find the way
To get rid of all your pain,
Little by little, day by day.


Now you're far away
And I'm alone to cry about it
It's not a better place
When you die and leave me here to say,


Hold on,
I was never that strong.


There's a little piece of heaven
Right here where you are.
The fact that you keep trying
Is what sets you apart.
Help me find the reason
And I'll help you find the way
To get rid of all your pain,
Little by little, day by day.


You'll get stronger
If you need me I'm not far away
So just hold on
I'll help you find a way;
I'll help you find the way.


There's a little piece of heaven
Right here where you are.
The fact that you keep trying
Is what sets you apart.
Help me find the reason
And I'll help you find the way
To get rid of all your pain,
Little by little, day by day


Little by little, day by day.
Little by little, day by day.
Little by little, day by day.
Little by little, day by day.




Lyric Analysis:


I think that this song is about his love, who is dying. He is trying to tell her not to be afraid and he is trying to support her, but she is actually the strong one who is helping him through it. They do not know what the illness is, so he is saying if she "help[s him] find the reason" for why she is dying, he will "help [her] find the way / To get rid of all [her] pain" and help her get better. He is telling her to "hold on" and stay alive because he would not be able to take it if she died. If she dies, he will be devastated and "alone to cry about it". He is saying that where she would be is not a better place because he is not with her - when he says "It's not a better place", he is referring to how people say that someone is in a better place when he or she dies to comfort others. In the end, he is just trying to comfort her and telling her that he is doing everything he can to find a way to cure her illness.


Some poetical devices in this song are:

• type is lyric poem because it expresses his intense love for her and what he is thinking about the situation
• imagery is not very evident in this song because it does not refer to many physical things due to the emotional nature - this does allow the listener/reader to feel the love for the girl dying
• rhyme scheme sounds like: ABABACAC DD EFGFHAAA ABAA DD EFGFHAAA IADAA EFGFHAAA AAAA
• assonance is very evident here in the 'ay' sound - examples are 'day', 'way', 'pain', 'face', 'replace', 'say', etc. (see how there are many A's in the rhyme scheme)
• refrain is repeated after each verse
• meter changes, so it is labelled on the lyrics as purple is stressed and black is unstressed
• tone is heartfelt love and some sadness
• euphony is used because the song sounds very nice and almost inspiring, but it is about someone dying
• themes include death, love, strength/courage, and determination

References:
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/theory_of_a_deadman/heaven_little_by_little.html

Poetic Parody

Choice number one.


I have a book of love poems that I ordered through those Scholastic book orders in grade eight. It has an amazing variety of love poems by some well known authors, and now I'm going to use one that I thoroughly enjoyed as a template for my own poem.


Coat - by Vicki Feaver


Sometimes I have wanted
to throw you off
like a heavy coat.


Sometimes I have said
you would not let me
breathe or move.


But now that I am free
to choose light clothes
or none at all


I feel the cold
and all the time I think

how warm it used to be.

I used this poem as a guide for my own poem:


Kitten


Sometimes I have wanted
to cling to you
like a lost kitten.


Sometimes I have said
you were the only
one for me.


But now that you've loved me,
put a choking
collar on me,


I hurt from you,
and all the time I think
how free I used to be.

By: G.L. Schilbe

Sorry for the spacing issues, for some reason I cannot only put one space between lines; but enjoy the poems anyway! :)

Poetry Paragraph

Alright, so I said that I would post my feelings on poetry later. Being two and a half weeks later, and the day that this blog is due, I figure now is good as any time to be "later". 


To me, poetry is art, in words. Poetry is the expression of a feeling or emotion through words. Many of the most famous poems are about love, be they grieving or ecstatic. Love is a very strong emotion that is not yet understood, and this is why many poets write about love. Poetry is the way that people are able to pour out their emotions and let them be viewed and felt by the rest of the world. Poems can be about anything and everything; they can provide comic relief, share feelings, depart knowledge, and entertain people of all ages. In a way, because of how poetry is within us and around us, poetry is life. Poetry is an essential part of life that makes the great journey more heartfelt and worthwhile.




To top it off, here's a quick little haiku 
poem that I wrote about poetry:


Around us, in us,
Anything and everything,
Life is poetry.








References:
http://readwritepoem.org/files/2009/10/What-is-Poetry-Wordle.gif

Poetic Quotes

I will post a comment on how I, personally, feel about poetry a little later. For now, I would like to share these quotations on poetry with you. I enjoyed them because I felt that they were interesting and truthful about poetry.

"A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep."
- Salman Rushdie

"Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out... Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure."
- A. E. Housman

 "Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary."

- Khalil Gibran 

"Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words."
- Paul Engle

"Poetry is plucking at the heartstrings, and making music with them."
- Dennis Gabor 

"Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn."
- Thomas Gray

"Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words."
- Edgar Allan Poe

I also found a nice poem on poetry, but I am unable to post it. See the second link in the references to see it.

 References:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_poetry.html#ixzz1IED9jmBG

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/poetry-poetry-2/

Haiku

Here is a poem that I wrote, made up of four Haiku poems made into stanzas.

Since Haiku is a Japanese poem that is usually about nature, I thought about flowers. With the arrival of Spring, I thought that rain and flowers were good topics to start with. From there, the picture below gave me more inspiration, and this poem was formed.

Dreary, rainy day;

Black clouds, grey skies, heavy air,

Clingy wetness and cold.

Lightning streaks across

The sky, illuminating

The dark scene below.

Thunder soon follows,

An immense drum sounding its

Boom throughout the air.

A pink flower blooms,

A small beacon of beauty
In a dreary world.

- G.L. Schilbe

Sources:

http://www.mysoultosole.ca/assets/images/Purple_flower.jpg

Where I'm From

Here is the poem that I wrote from the "Where I'm From" poem template.


I am from hair clips,
From a fresh family meal at Pizza Hut and sticky homemade caramel popcorn.

I am from the immense cornfield, jumping between rows to avoid being caught in a game of hide-and-seek-tag.
I am from the fragrant lilacs, blooming fervently in spring, from the unkept bush that formed a magical kingdom of endless adventure.

I am from the pancake supper, exploring Uncle Rick's sugar maple bush and the shack where the maple syrup is freshly made in the spring.
I am from Grandma and Grandpaw's creek, the long trek down the trail to the stream of smiles and memories.

I am from the determined and the opinionated,
From "clean this up" and "don't be shy".

I am from "Jesus loves me, this I know" and from repentant prayers.
From singing songs, sleeping during sermons, and making colourful crafts in Sunday School.

I am from London, Ontario, one half from Poland and the other a mixture of German, Dutch, and various other ethnicities,
From crepes and schnitzel.

From the countless blackened fingernails my Father and Uncles received from hammers,
From the building of our house and the treacherous climb taken three stories above ground just to say hello,
From the flaming Jeep, my mother relieved to find my sister and I safely indoors.

I am from old family albums, stored away in a cupboard; some out of order, others never touched unless to reminisce.
I am from various files and dates taking up room in a monstrous desk drawer in the computer room.
These moments captured on paper and forgotten in another world separate of our own. Living in another world, yet in contact with our own on lonely Saturdays when fuzzy memories stored in the back of the mind are not enough to remember those moments that define our lives.

- G.L. Schilbe

Here is a picture of my mom and I in our backyard.



From the poem, and this picture, you can now see where I'm from.