Whenever Rhymes Are Glorious Poem by gershon hepner

WHENEVER RHYMES ARE GLORIOUS


Rhyme that turns your phrases
into music dazes
the downbeat of the sense
with rhythmic arguments.
Unbeatable the case if
the poet is persuasive
by measuring a meter
that makes him sound upbeater
than poets who may tank
with verse made bland and blank
by lacking tread and armor
of rhyme, the music charmer
whose sounds become victorious
whenever rhymes are glorious.

Inspired by an article by Kelefa Sanneh in the 12/6/10 issue of The New Yorker ("Word: Jay Z's ‘Decoded" and the language of hip-hop") , discussing the rhyme of hip-hop, studied by Adam Bradley in his manifesto "Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip-Hop") :

In the introduction to "Finishing the Hat, " Sondheim explains that "all rhymes, even the farthest afield of the near ones (home/dope) , draw attention to the rhymed word." But surely rhyming can deëmphasize the meaning of a word by emphasizing its sound. Rhyme, like other phonetic techniques, is a way to turn a spoken phrase into a musical phrase—a "rhythmic argument, " as Jay-Z put it. Bap bap bapbap. Rapping is the art of addressing listeners and distracting them at the same time. Bradley argues in "Book of Rhymes" that hip-hop lyrics represent the genre's best chance for immortality: "When all the club bangers have faded, when all the styles and videos are long forgotten, the words will remain." That gets the relationship backward. On the contrary, one suspects that the words will endure—and the books will proliferate—because the music will, too.

12/11/10 Taft #1548 #10137