JC
Whether a poet chooses to rhyme or not can tell you a lot about how they’re feeling! Read anything by Shakespeare, Rossetti, Agard etc. if you want proof. Alternatively, you could just listen to ‘You and I by PVRIS!
ACTIVITY 1
Listen to PVRIS’ ‘You and I’. Use two highlighters. In one colour, highlight the perfect rhymes and, in another, highlight the half-rhymes (the rhymes that sound kind of similar but don’t match exactly). Consider too what you think the song (the ‘poem’) is about? What feelings is songwriter and singer Lynn Gunn trying to express?
PVRIS, ‘You and I’
I know it’s warmer where you are and it’s safer by your side
But right now I can’t be what you want just give it time
And if you and I can make it through the night
And if you and I can keep our love alive, we’ll fight
We can meet in the middle, bodies and souls collide
And it’s cold when we’re apart and I hate to feel this die
But you can’t give me what I want just give it time
And if you and I can make it through the night
And if you and I can keep our love alive, we’ll fight
But for now we stay so far till our lonely limbs collide
I can’t keep you in these arms, so I’ll keep you in my mind.
ACTIVITY 2
What is the song (the ‘poem’) about? Let’s discuss.
ACTIVITY 3
You will notice that PVRIS use a mix of half-rhymes and perfect rhymes. Why do you think this is? What might the moments of perfect rhyme represent? What might the half-rhymes signify? Don’t scroll down until you have had enough time to gather your own thoughts and ideas.
ACTIVITY 4
Perhaps you said that the perfect rhymes are indicative of the safe, secure pace Lynn Gunn is striving for. And maybe, for example, the ‘collide’ / ‘mind’ rhyme gives a sense of how the memory or thought of the person they are thinking about isn’t quite as perfect as having them there. Perhaps the rhyme becomes more ‘perfect’, the closer Lynn and the person she is hoping to see again get to each other. Maybe the perfect rhymes fit with how perfect Lynn thinks the other person is, but the half-rhymes represent the difficulties and struggles the pair face when trying to reach other. Maybe you had other ideas too!!
ACTIVITY 5
Identify the rhymes and half-rhymes in the poetry you’re studying. Do the ideas above feel relevant to the poets’ rhyming choices? Or do the poets you are studying makes their choices regarding rhymes and half-rhymes for different reasons?
Now, use the music you love to fuel your own poetry writing!