Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Poetry in Sound

      I have this fantastic theory--here 'fantastic' is a euphemism for 'baseless' or 'ungrounded'--that a idea can be evoked by using sounds similar to those found in the word or phrase that expresses that idea. For example, if I wanted to poetically convey the pleasant feeling of receiving a package, I would try to incorporate words like 'stack' and 'past' and 'catch' and 'can' and others that included cacophonous consonants and short vowels in my description.
     This (if it does work outside of my own imagination) makes sense because words are composed of sounds and, since certain words create certain feelings, it follows that the sounds that compose these words can create the same feelings if combined correctly. Of course, then there's the whole question of accents and dialects, but that can easily answered by pointing out that different cultures have different ideals of art and beauty. Poetry is by no means a universally understood and appreciated form, and it usually doesn't translate well between cultures. That doesn't necessarily mean that one is unable to appreciate the work of someone in a different culture; it certainly makes sense, though, that it would be harder for one to understand.
     Apple. Snap, flip, popping, amble, wool, crackle.
     Alienate. Separation, ailment, innate, fail, stale, crate.
     Butterfly. Flutter, hover, flow, other, dust.
     This could be a great game.

2 comments:

  1. oh show be la riffer crob-from, stinderduntaly
    "crim studdle bump crim studdlebump studdle rim for re" o sibeldant y "Sho no se":

    oh sho-no lo se no
    oh lo no see-no
    sho fe no, lo go-go
    finnel sho ne go

    In ar butofarruk lim stundle, shim nis serra din no gratiluginous cretolon "es perri din funni streparlode(sic)" es lo chenni di stundle.

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  2. I'll be wracking my brain trying to figure out who posted that one. Hm.
    Unfortunately, I'm not quite intelligent to break this code (I rue the day...) but I will be incapable of sleeping until I do.

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