Journal 27 - Emily Dickinson's Poems' Tune

Emily Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune of "Amazing Grace" and "Yellow Rose of Texas". Her poems have rhythmic lines and the reason that they can be sung to several different folk songs was because her rhyme scheme and story telling can follow a musical beat. The ironic part of "Amazing Grace" fitting in with Emily Dickinson's poems is that she was not religious. Dickinson never became a member of the Church, but her family and friends all were Christians and very faithful. Her poems had a standard rhyme scheme and as almost all of them had the same scheme. That is why they can all fit into "Amazing Grace" and "Yellow Rose of Texas". "Amazing Grace" became a staple of the Christian Church. When I was confirmed in eighth grade, my cousin who was my confirmation sponsor, gave me a snow globe type object that played "Amazing Grace". Emily Dickinson was not religious at all, and rejected the Church which is why the fact that "Amazing Grace" fit in her poems was significant. Emily Dickinson's poems involved life, love, death, and nature. She looked at her subjects in a scientific manner, not a religious one. Her poems would have been different if she believed, and was exposed to the Church's beliefs and philosophies. Another song that fits with Emily Dickinson's poems is "I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing (in Perfect Harmony)". The song is a bit slow for my speed of reading poems out loud, but it fits nicely with "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" as well as other Emily Dickinson poems. The rhythm of folk songs, such as my favorite "Oh Susanna" also carries the same rhythm and beat as "A Narrow Fellow in the Grass" and other Dickinson poems. I learned the lyrics of "Oh Susanna" in elementary school music class. As I know that tune very well and can read Dickinson's poems to that song and keep a constant rhythm when reciting her poems.