“If music be the food of love, play on”
William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

Hello, Poets! It’s Merril, coming to you from southern New Jersey. Recently, another dVerse host commented to me how hard it would be to get through adolescence without music to listen to. Of course, this isn’t an option everywhere, nor has it always been an option. The gramophone was not invented until the late 19th century, and radio did not become popular until the early 1920s, so until then people could only hear musical performances live. But people have always played and sung music.

Flutes have been found with both ancient human and Neanderthal remains. Those ancient bones fascinate me, and I’ve written about them before. Ancient Greek plays included music; so did Shakespeare’s. We hear birdsong, whale song, and the music of the stars. Some languages have a song-like quality with different meanings in the tones of the words. Music is everywhere.

Here are just a few examples of classic and contemporary poems about music.

John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44479/ode-to-a-nightingale

T.S. Eliot, “The Song of the Jellicles”
https://poets.org/poem/song-jellicles

Langston Hughes, T”he Weary Blues”
https://poets.org/poem/weary-blues

Diane Seuss, “What is it you feel I asked Kurt”
https://poets.org/poem/what-it-you-feel-i-asked-kurt

Bill Holm, “J. S. Bach: F# Minor Toccata”
https://poets.org/poem/j-s-bach-f-minor-toccata

For today’s prompt, I want you to choose two or more musical terms from this list:
https://www.sfcv.org/learn/glossary

*Write a poem in any style including the words you took from the list*

Here are a few other optional ideas:

–Theme songs for movies and shows often become memorable behind the life of the show. Imagine a theme song for your life and write a poem about it.

–Write about a song that is meaningful to you. Tell us why (poetically).

–What is the music of the Earth, the sun, the moon, or other stars and planets? Tell us in a poem.

–Write a ballad or a poem with a chorus.

Find additional inspiration in these two images.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/428730

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/557727

If you’re new, here’s what to do!

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