Send In The Clowns, Stephen Sondheim

Once again, it seems my favourite composer has found his way onto this blog. Today we look at a song from the 1973 musical, A Little Night Music. As with my other posts involving copyrighted material, I will provide a link to the text of the poem at the bottom of the page.

"Send In The Clowns" is a slow, elegant piece of music. The song itself is arranged into five verses, most of which follow the same scheme as the example below:

Don't you love farce?                                         A
My fault I fear.                                                   B
I thought that you'd want what I want.                C
Sorry, my dear.                                                   B
But where are the clowns?                                  D
Quick, send in the clowns.                                  D
Don't bother, they're here.                                  B

However, each verse varies slightly, mostly near the end. Verse Three is an interesting exception to this, but we'll get to that later. The meter also varies quite a bit. The first two lines are Iambic Dimeter, with the third switching to Iambic Trimeter and one left over syllable, before going back to Dimeter for line four.  Lines five through seven are in Amphibrachic-Iambic Dimeter. 

This song laments the loss of love. The speaker, Desiree, has just learned that the man she loves doesn't want to leave his wife for her. Throughout the song, she compares her feelings to a joke in a show. She repeatedly asks to "Send in the clowns", before realizing that in the end, she is the fool, stating "Don't bother, they're here". The poem ends with her saying "Well, maybe next year", a statement reminiscent of what a sad child might be told after missing clowns. 

Desiree's heart is broken, that much is certain. But there is definitely more to this song than heartbreak. It laments the ridiculousness of loving someone who doesn't love you back. It is a tragically beautiful poem, and combined with the music, it makes for a sad and stunning piece. I'd highly recommend giving it a listen through.

Up Next: TBA

Full Lyrics: Send In The Clowns                                                     Video: Send In The Clowns

How Do I Love Thee? Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Once again, it seems I have chosen a poem whose author I have no prior experience with.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

This is a sonnet, although not a Shakespearean one. It's rhyme scheme is:
A                       A                  D
B                       B                   E
B                       B                   D
C                       C                  E
                                               D
                                               E,
Meaning it is closest to a Petrarchan sonnet, although it really doesn't fit that category either. The lines are in Iambic Pentameter.

This is a straight-up love poem. It certainly lives up to it's title, as all the lines are proclamations of love, each one grander than the last. The speaker begins by saying that she "loves thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach", and goes on to say that she "loves thee freely", "purely" and "with all the passion put to use In my old griefs". The poem ends with the speaker stating that her love will survive past death, and even will grow stronger posthumously.

This poem is very beautiful. The language is stunning, and it's a lovely image of idealistic romance. This is a piece that clearly believes in true love.

Up Next: Send In The Clowns, by Stephen Sondheim

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas

Like with my post on "You're", I'm not especially familiar with the works of Dylan Thomas. I've never read any of his poems, including this one, so this will be another case of going in blind.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light

This poem is a villanelle, meaning it has 19 lines, arranged into five tercets and ending with a quatrain. The rhyme scheme is very simple, with the only variation at the very end. it runs:
A
B
A
with an extra B at the end of the quatrain. The lines are in Iambic  Pentameter.

"Do Not Go Gentle..." is a plea against the acceptance of death. The speaker's father is dying, as evidenced in the quatrain (And you, my father, there on that sad height). The speaker is begging his father to keep fighting his fate. He repeats the lines "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light", pleading with the listener to never stop living. The piece starts by saying that "Old age should burn and rave at close of day", and ends with a prayer that the father of the speaker will rail against his inevitable end.

Up Next: How Do I Love Thee, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
 

Marry Me A Little and Being Alive, Stephen Sondheim

This post will be a little different than my others. For one, it will be a compare and contrast style analysis. This is also a study of two songs, both from the musical Company, by Stephen Sondheim. The songs share the same subject matter, and are from the perspective of the same character, but they are very different.

When listened to, "Marry Me A Little" is the more upbeat song. But this isn't a music blog, it's a poetry blog, so let's look at the meter and rhyme scheme.
Marry me a little
Love me just enough
Cry, but not too often
Play, but not too rough
Keep a tender distance
So we`ll both be free
That`s the way it ought to be
I`m ready!
Looking at this excerpt, which reflects the majority of the piece, the basic rhyme scheme is
A
B
C
B
D
E
E
F
The lines are in alternating Dactylic-Amphibrachic Dimeter and Dactylic-Iambic Dimeter, with the "I'm ready" (which ends each verse) as an exception.
In contrast, "Being Alive" is slower, and more dramatic when listened to. The following excerpt represents the majority of the verses, although this is more varied than the last song
Somebody, need me too much,
Somebody, know me too well,
Somebody, pull me up short
And put me through hell
And give me support
For being alive,
Make me alive
The meter is more complicated than "Marry Me A Little". The first three lines of the verse start with a Dactyl, and transition into two feet Iambic Pentameter. The three lines after are comprised of one Dactyl and one Iamb, and the last line is simply two Iambs. The rhyme scheme runs something like:
A
B
C
B
C
E
E
Structurally, these two pieces are pretty similar. It is in their treatment of their subject matter that they differ.

Both songs are about relationships, specifically marriage, and the way people view them. "Marry Me A Little" has an idealistic opinion of how a relationship should function. The speaker, Bobby, who is considering marriage, talks about how marriage "ought to be". He believes that a functional relationship involves keeping all the messy, painful bits hidden, and only displaying the perfect image he has seen in the married couples he has interacted with througout his life. He is willing to have "Just the simple stuff" in a relationship, but does not want to recognize any difficulty that may occur.

"Being Alive" appears later in the musical. In this song, Bobby, the same narrator from before, discusses the problems he sees in his friend's marriages. The piece starts with him complaining about everything that could be wrong or uncomfortable in a relationship, saying that all they get you is "Someone to hold you too close", "Crowd you with love" and "Force you to care". Through the course of the song, however, Bobby realises that all these apparent flaws are what he really wants from a relationship. Here, we have a Bobby who understands that in order for a relationship to function, he needs to accept that not everything will be absolutely perfect.

I chose these two songs, not just becausee they are from my favourite musical, but also because they illustrate the growth of the speaker over time.  They do address the same subject, but their meaning arises from the perspective each song has. I think it's an interesting look at how a character can develop and change, even within the context of just two poems.

Up Next: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, by Dylan Thomas

Full Lyrics: Marry Me A Little    Video:Marry Me A Little

Full Lyrics: Being Alive               Video: Being Alive

You're, Sylvia Plath

Of the group of poets I have been analysing, Sylvia Plath is the one I am the least familiar with. Her work is also considerably darker than my usual fare. However, this poem is one of her less depressing ones. Because Plath’s work is still copyrighted, this will be the same deal as last time. I will post a link to the full text and only quote certain sections. So, without any further ado, let’s get right into “You’re.”

This poem is in free verse, meaning it does not rhyme, and has no discernible meter. It reads a lot like something that might be in a journal. The main focus of the poem is a fetus that the speaker is talking to. Most of the lines are a series of metaphors describing said fetus.

Now would be a good time to discuss Plath’s linguistic style. Her poetry does not use especially romantic phrases or syntax. Instead, the words she has chosen are much more visceral than the floral language used in the previous poems on this blog. It changes the dynamic of the poem a lot, making it feel vivid and more real. Romantic poems make you feel like you’re looking at a painting, while Plath’s poems make you feel like you’re actually witnessing the thing actually happening. For example, diction such as “gilled like a fish” or “a creel of eels” or “bent-backed atlas” contain sharp, concentrated consonants and shorter vowels, which give the words more of an edge when spoken aloud. Try it.

Plath’s language has a way of breaking apart ideals and bringing the realistic out of a situation. Other poems have a habit of romanticising and objectifying things, particularly women, and can be very impersonal. Plath, on the other hand, is very personal in her writing style. Plath takes something that is often romanticised, like pregnancy and mother-child dynamics, and adds depth and emotion. She takes ideals and strips them, exposing the real situations beneath the polished artifice. It’s as if she digs her nails into beautiful surfaces, and tears them away until she finds something real.

“You’re,” like some of Plath’s other works, is about a thing that is specific to women, in this case pregnancy. It’s also less like a story than the other poems I’ve analysed. Plath’s style is very confessional, meaning that her works are about her experiences rather than grand sweeping concepts, although that’s not to say she doesn’t address important ideas in her poetry.  Her style is just more like someone speaking, and has less of the romantic, ballad-like forms that appeared in my previous entries.

Full Text of You’re