Imagining the Lyrical Poetry of John Lennon & Emily Dickinson

Traditionally, the term, ‘Lyrical’ referred to a composition of words that were meant to have a musical accompaniment.  When we think about ‘Lyrical Poetry” now, it more broadly refers to a poem or literary work in which a writer, or a writer’s persona, expresses his or her personal feelings on any theme or topic. When we think of ‘Lyrics,’ we generally consider them as the words to music.  After playing to a number of sold-out stadium crowds, John Lennon said that he didn’t think that it mattered what The Beatles Lyrics were because the crowds were screaming so loud that no one could hear them. Ironically, these words were from the same man who wrote the 1971 song “Imagine,” which has some of the most profound lyrics in modern popular music:

Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

In these lyrics. Lennon was expressing sentiments he believed were held by many people in the 1960’s and 70’s who were opposed to the brutal and incessant wars of the twentieth century. From this point of view, religions and national divisions did not improve our world. Instead, they encouraged people to single out those who didn’t believe in their views as the enemy. This message is still very timely for many of us!. The poet’s view is that if people didn’t create and take sides in these territorial views, we wouldn’t have as much to fight about. In this and in another one of his songs, all he is saying is “to give peace a chance.”

Taking an Excerpt from nineteenth-century English Poet John Clare poem, “I hid my love,” the speaker is having a difficult time hiding the fact that he can’t get over losing his old love— also a universal theme.

I hid my love when young till I

Couldn’t bear the buzzing of a fly;

I hid my love to my despite

Till I could not bear to look at light:

I dare not gaze upon her face

But left her memory in each place;

Where’er  I saw a wild flower lie

I kissed and bade my love good-bye.

Lyrical poetry can also be light and informative as in “Prayer for Joy,” or it can be sad and deeply reflective as in, “I found it in the wash.’ Both of these poems and many more are found in Megan Willome’s inspiring 2016 book, the Joy of Poetry. In the first one, the poet writes about how joyful she feels to find that a letter, like a “J,” which can hold such a profound joy that can help us unlock the mystery of a forest of deeply hidden words—as we might find in poetry. She also uses a metaphor to compare the shape of a “J” to a cane, which can help us to get around in a time when we are unable to stand on our own.

Why was it we wanted to say anyhow, like today

When there were all the letters in my alphabet soup and suddenly

The “J” rises to my surface

The “J,” a letter that might be good for Scrabble,

But not really used for anything else, unless

We need to jump for joy, and then all of a sudden

It’s there and ready to help us soar

and open up our hearts at the same time,

This simple line with a curved bottom,

An upside down cane that helps us walk in a new way into this

Forest of language, where all of the letters are beginning to speak

Finding each other in just the right combination to be understood

In Wllome’s second poem, she tells a story about finding a crushed shell in the wash which reminded her of a loved one who had died. If you read the earlier part of the book, you would know that the shell was from her mother who had died of cancer. The metaphor suggests that through the washing machine had crushed the shell and cleaned it of cancer, the finder could not forget that lasting and open memory.

I found it in the wash, the orange

Shell I picked up on the beach

That last time. One of my girls-

The one named after you-

Must have found it in my room and wanted it. Cleaned and cancerous curve, a palm open to nothing, reeking in sunshine

and your death. For years

I didn’t know what to do with it.

You would have liked this story: how a child

 Slips grief into a careless pocket

 Breaks it to pieces. Lets it go.

 Emily Dickinson’s untitled poem, which we now call “I Heard a Fly Buzz,” has some clever Alliteration and a Simile. The Alliteration of “st” connects the words “stillness” and “storm,” two words which are usually considered oppositional. However, Dickinson is referring to the calm between two storms, which produces a profound stillness unlike any other. In this case, she may be referring to the period between life and death. Her atypical use of the long em-dash also visually highlights these long pauses. What do you think? Please leave a reply or write a short poem in the dialogue box below.

I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air –
Between the Heaves of Storm –

In my next Poetry Workshop, we will discuss Synesthesia or the blended and unique use of mixed sensory inputs in poetry and literature.

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