Capturing Feeling Through Sound: Why Music Matters in Poetry
photo credit: Roy Manzanares
Why do we share poems, as opposed to other writing forms, at weddings, funerals and other significant life events? What is it about poetry that speaks to our humanity, and how does a poet create something so profoundly impactful? In this brief talk, we’ll consider one indispensable tool that, for centuries, poets have known is the key to creating powerful poetry: musicality. We’ll consider not only how musicality distinguishes poetry from other forms of writing, but also how it can heighten, enrich and transform a poem — ultimately creating something that can, as William Wordsworth says, make us “wiser, better and happier.”