Many of us might not have thought about National Poetry Month in… ever, since it was established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, and most of us were out of grade school by then, so neither forced to read, listen to, nor write poetry. Many of us couldn’t otherwise say we’ve ever “celebrated” poetry except unintentionally. However, as musicians, we might be wise to care a bit more about poetry… simply because poetry and song go hand in hand.
The famous New Year’s song, Auld Lang Syne was first a folk song heard by the poet Robert Burns in the 18th century, and included in a collection of his poems, to which he added his own words. It was eventually turned back into a song and set to music in the 19th century. We know that hundreds of secular songs have lyrics cribbed from poetry, including Sheryl Crow’s Grammy-awarded 90’s earworm, “All I Wanna Do,” which came from a poem by Wyn Cooper titled, “Fun,” a poem he tried and failed to have widely known… until Sheryl Crow’s people ran across his poetry chapbook in a used bookstore.
The connection between hymns and poetry is even more interesting. Hymn #209 in the Presbyterian hymnal, My Song Is Love Unknown, written in 1664 by Puritan minister Samuel Crossman, came to him after he was kicked out of the Church of England during one of that denomination’s many bitter theological battles. It was set to music years later in 1925, rescuing it from obscurity. What a Friend We Have in Jesus was a poem written to Joseph M. Scriven’s mother in 1855, to comfort her after a death of a loved-one. In 1872, the poem, “The Brewing of Soma by Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier was published in The Atlantic. Holding forth on the danger of religious ritual to separate the faithful from God, the poem’s final six stanzas are not quite so thunderous, and became the well-loved and reflective Dear Lord and Father of Mankind in 1884.
All of this poetic history behind the songs we enjoy reminds a singer of the importance of lyrics. It’s easy to get stuck into worrying about notation, or the complexity of a harmony line (or realizing you’ve never seen the hymn in your life and feeling mildly panicked at having to sight-read quickly of a Sunday morning). But as we wade through the notes, let’s not forget to truly read the words, looking at the phrasing beyond where the system divides the line. Reading hymn lyrics in this way just might help us to better understand what we’re saying – and hopefully deepen our experience of singing as an avenue of worship. 🎶