What Will Your Verse Be?

“We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. Poetry, beauty, romance and love, these are what we stay alive for. The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?"  - Dead Poets Society

           Many would say that music is a form of poetry. Each piece of work displays specific emotion and tells a story or shares an experience with their audience. There’s certain theme’s and tones within the song and poem that set the aesthetic and create the atmosphere for the listener/reader. The poem’s “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” by W.H. Auden and Alzheimer’s by Kelly Cherry have common tones and themes to the song Afire Love by Ed Sheeran.

            Ed Sheeran released his song Afire Love in 2014. He wrote it about his late Grandfather who was suffering from memory loss, as well as a dying illness. The theme’s found in this song are loss, specifically losing a loved, as well as grief and memory loss. The song starts off describing how things were well with his grandfather, until his memory started to fade, and he is saddened by this because he doesn’t recognize the musicians face anymore.  Sheeran sings, “Things were all good yesterday and then the devil took your memory... And now you’re lying in the bed again, either way I’ll cry with the rest of them”. Eventually towards the end of the song, it talks about how the grandfather had passed, and they are all at his funeral, singing hallelujah. The tone of the song is very depressing and lifeless, as it goes through the journey of losing a loved one.

            Poems and songs can intertwine with each-other and have similar aspects with each-other. The poem “Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone” by W.H. Auden conveys similar tones and themes to the song Afire Love. The common theme in this poem is loss and grief. Auden’s poem is about death as well, and basically how this person’s world is stopped because their loved one is gone forever. Auden writes, “The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good” (Auden 13-16). This person feels there is no use for anything anymore because their loved one is gone. The tone of this poem, as well as the song, is depressing, dull, lifeless and heartbreaking. There is no life or light in this poem, it is simply dull.

            The song Afire Love by Ed Sheeran also draws parallels to the poem “Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry. This poem takes place at a home after a man has come back from the hospital and she writes about the house and how he remembers his house as such. This man suffers from Alzheimer’s, which is a disease that destroys memory and other mental functions. A common theme between this poem and the song is memory loss. Cherry writes, “The first thing he must do now that he is home; is decide who this woman is, this old, white-haired woman standing there in the doorway, welcoming him in” (Cherry 25-29). The narrator is worried that he won’t recognize his wife. The tone is this poem is worrisome, sad, harsh and nostalgic.

            Loss and grief, sadness and heartbreak, are all themes and tones that are found in these poems and songs. These pieces of work share their story of the difficulties one goes through when dealing with loss, whether it’s physically losing a loved one, or losing one’s memory. They share sad and lifeless tones, as they recall these memories.